During the third day of confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, the associate justice hopeful was asked -- in a sideways manner -- about the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

Iowa senator Chuck Grassley asked Sotomayor whether same-sex marriage is under federal jurisdiction, especially timely with a case to repeal California's Proposition 8 making its way through the court system.

Grassley mentioned the case Baker v. Nelson, a 1972 ruling that Minnesota's laws limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples did not violate the U.S. Constitution.

Sotomayor replied that she could not comment on the matter, because of the pending marriage cases in states across the country, as well as the federal case heading in the Supreme Court's direction. She also said that she had not reviewed Baker, but offered to read the case and speak about it Thursday.

Labels: courts, DOMA, gay marriage

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