Supreme Court Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage In Historic 5-4 Decision

 Today is a day for history! The Supreme Court issued a ruling supporting same-sex marriage. 

In a vote of 5-4, the Court decided that states must issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples and recognize same-sex marriages from out of state!

Remember today, because it’s when the Supreme Court decided that same-sex marriage is legal under the U.S. Constitution! In a landmark 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples can get married throughout America!

The Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage is Constitutionally legal, in a vote of 5-4.
Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and John Roberts voted against same-sex marriage, with Anthony Kennedy joining fellow Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan supporting the constitutional right for same-sex couples to get married.
 
Justice Kennedy wrote the majority opinion on the case, stating “the court now holds that same-sex couples may exercise the fundamental right to marry. No longer may this liberty be denied to them.” Chief Justice Roberts wrote dissenting the opinion, arguing that the Supreme Court is “not a legislature.

Whether same-sex marriage is a good idea should be of no concern to us. Under the Constitution, judges have power to say what the law is, not what it should be.”

In the case of Obergefell v. Hodges, a same-sex coupled filed a lawsuit in Ohio in 2013, reports Rolling Stone. The suit alleged that the state discriminates against same-sex couples that have been married out of state. The Supreme court consolidated the Ohio couple’s case with similar lawsuits in Tennessee, Michigan and Kentucky, where same-sex marriage is still illegal.

The case dealt with issues of whether or not states are required by the Constitution to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples. Also, do states need to recognize out-of-state marriage licenses for same-sex couples married elsewhere?

The court decided on these questions, stating that same-sex marriage is indeed protected by the Constitution!