The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear four new cases on same-sex marriage this term, a ruling which will determine if states have the power to ban same-sex marriage and refuse to recognize marriages performed in another state.
According to SCOTUS Blog, the Court announced that it will allocate a little more than two hours for hearing on the cases, likely in April, and will issue a final decision in June. The cases involve four states – Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee – all of which will be merged together.
Unlike the most recent same-sex marriage decision from 2013, United States v. Windsor, which forced the federal government to recognize gay marriages, this ruling did not resolve the main question in the debate – whether or not the Constitution grants gays and lesbians the right to marry and whether states have the right to ban the practice.
The Justices were forced to take on the cases after a split decision among federal appellate courts saw the 6th Circuit uphold marriage bans while other circuits struck them down.
Parties on both sides of the issue are pleased with the news.
“We’ve reached the moment of truth — the facts are clear, the arguments have been heard by dozens of courts, and now the nine justices of the Supreme Court have an urgent opportunity to guarantee fairness for countless families, once and for all,” said Chad Griffin, president of the gay activist group, Human Rights Campaign, to USA Today.
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, an organization dedicated to upholding family values, thinks the Supreme Court will now have the opportunity to “issue a long-overdue ruling to restore the freedom of the people to uphold marriage in their state laws as the union of a man and a woman. Lower court judges have robbed millions of people of their voice and vote on society’s most fundamental relationship – marriage.”
As of today, 36 states allow same-sex marriage and 14 states ban them.
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