code:

           5.       Application of Heightened Scrutiny to Justifications Proffered for DOMA.
19         Under heightened scrutiny, the proponents of the statute must establish, at a minimum,
20 that the classification is “substantially related to an important governmental objective.” Clark,
21 486 U.S. at 461. Moreover, under any form of heightened scrutiny, the statute may only be
22 defended by reference to the actual legislative bases advanced to legitimate the statute or the
23 “actual [governmental] purpose, not rationalizations for actions in fact differently grounded.”
24 United States v. Virginia, 518 U.S. 515, 535-36 (1996). The Court notes that the “historical
25 background of the decision” to enact legislation and the “specific sequence of events leading up
26 to the challenged decision” may shed light on the decisionmakers’ purposes.
...
26        The Court concludes that, based on the justifications proffered by Congress for its
27 passage of DOMA, the statute fails to satisfy heightened scrutiny and is unconstitutional as
28 applied to Ms. Golinski.