Fridae

According to Reuters, the briefs are due to be filed this week with the US Supreme Court. One is expected on Wednesday in a case that challenges the federal Defense of Marriage Act in which Section 3 defines marriage as between one man and one woman, and one due on Thursday in a case that challenges California’s Proposition 8 which bans same-sex marriage. The two cases are to be argued on March 26 and 27.

The report quotes attorney Joshua Rosenkranz as having written in the Proposition 8 brief that companies believe that the ban and other laws like it "inflict real and wholly unnecessary injury on business."

"By marginalising same-sex couples and foreclosing gay men and lesbians from forming 'married' families, these bans on equal access to marriage stigmatise gay men and lesbians and deprive them of the benefits intrinsic to marriage," he added.

Even if a corporation welcomes gay and lesbian unions, "it cannot overcome the societal stigma institutionalised by Proposition 8 and similar laws." He also made the argument that there is "a strong business case" for recognising same-sex marriage. Gay marriage bans "can impede business efforts to recruit, hire and retain the best workers," he added.

Read: Some companies to back gay marriage in coming Supreme Court cases (Reuters)

Fortune has more details:

On Thursday, dozens of American corporations, including Apple, Alcoa, Facebook, eBay, Intel, and Morgan Stanley will submit an amicus [friend-of-the-court] brief in the landmark Hollingsworth v. Perry case broadly arguing to the U.S. Supreme Court that laws banning same-sex marriages, like California's ballot initiative Proposition 8, are unconstitutional under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses.

According to a draft copy obtained by Fortune, the companies argue that such laws "send an unmistakeable signal that same-sex couples are in some way inferior to opposite-sex couples, a proposition that is anathema to amici's commitment to equality and fair treatment to all."

At least 60 companies had committed to signing the brief as of Tuesday evening, according to Joshua Rosenkranz, who is counsel of record on the brief and head of the Supreme Court and appellate litigation practice at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. That number is expected to rise by Thursday, however, according to Rosenkranz. Others who have already committed to sign include AIG, Becton Dickinson, Cisco, Cummins, Kimpton, Levi Strauss, McGraw Hill, NCR, Nike, Office Depot, Oracle, Panasonic, Qualcomm, and Xerox.

Read more: Dozens of big U.S. companies to back gay marriage (Fortune/CNN)

Republican leaders sign pro-gay marriage brief

In what has been deemed an unexpected move, at least 80 top Republicans have signed a legal brief to be submitted to the Supreme Court this week, arguing that gay marriage is a constitutional right in the case over Proposition 8, a California law banning same-sex marriage.

The New York Times, which first reported on the brief, says the list includes top advisers to former President George W. Bush, four former governors and two members of Congress. “Among them are Meg Whitman, who supported Proposition 8 when she ran for California governor; Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida and Richard Hanna of New York; Stephen J. Hadley, a Bush national security adviser; Carlos Gutierrez, a commerce secretary to Mr. Bush; James B. Comey, a top Bush Justice Department official; David A. Stockman, President Ronald Reagan’s first budget director; and Deborah Pryce, a former member of the House Republican leadership from Ohio who is retired from Congress.”

The Times also noted that high-profile Republicans who support same-sex marriage – including Laura Bush, the former first lady; Dick Cheney, the former vice president; and Colin L. Powell, a former secretary of state – were not on the list as of Monday.

Last week, the Barack Obama administration filed a legal brief to ask the US Supreme Court to strike down a 1996 law defining marriage exclusively as a union between a man and a woman, marking the first time a president has endorsed same-sex marriage rights before the Supreme Court. According to the filing, the Defence of Marriage Act “violates the fundamental constitutional guarantee of equal protection” before the law stipulated by the US Constitution.