I thank my colleagues for providing the background, history and facts of the particular cases leading up to 2015, after the Obergefell v Hodges opinion. I would like to briefly summarize the path and give a glimpse of what the future might look like for marriage in the United States.
In 1986 in Bowers v Hardwick The Supreme Court under the leadership of Chief Justice Warren Burger rejected a challenge to Georgia’s sodomy law. The court found that the claim that, “homosexual sodomy” was protected under the constitution was “at best facetious”. This decision was finally overturned in 2003 when the court ruled in Lawrence v Texas to overturn sodomy laws in 14 states. In 1996 from a case originating in Hawaii, Romer v Evans, Justice Kennedy, …show more content…
The Supreme Court in Obergefell v Hodges, with a 5-4 decision held that all states were required to grant same-sex marriages and recognize those marriages from other states. This ruling struck down laws in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee.
With this meteoric change in public opinion there are still many questions to be addressed. There have already been those who are crying “judicial tyranny” in an effort for public officials to refuse to abide by this ruling. Kentucky clerk of courts Kim Davis shortly after the Obergefell ruling continued to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples, for which she was incarcerated for five days. After she returned to work, same-sex couples were receiving legally binding marriage licenses without her signature on them.
What can we expect moving forward? Since the court has ruled that the fundamental right to marry extends to same-sex couples, that sets a constitutional floor with which states and the federal government must comply. Some Republican presidential candidates have called for a federal marriage amendment, echoing calls a decade or so ago. However, given the growing public support for same-sex marriage and the number of states that now allow such marriages, it seems highly improbable that such an amendment would
In 1986 in Bowers v Hardwick The Supreme Court under the leadership of Chief Justice Warren Burger rejected a challenge to Georgia’s sodomy law. The court found that the claim that, “homosexual sodomy” was protected under the constitution was “at best facetious”. This decision was finally overturned in 2003 when the court ruled in Lawrence v Texas to overturn sodomy laws in 14 states. In 1996 from a case originating in Hawaii, Romer v Evans, Justice Kennedy, …show more content…
The Supreme Court in Obergefell v Hodges, with a 5-4 decision held that all states were required to grant same-sex marriages and recognize those marriages from other states. This ruling struck down laws in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee.
With this meteoric change in public opinion there are still many questions to be addressed. There have already been those who are crying “judicial tyranny” in an effort for public officials to refuse to abide by this ruling. Kentucky clerk of courts Kim Davis shortly after the Obergefell ruling continued to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples, for which she was incarcerated for five days. After she returned to work, same-sex couples were receiving legally binding marriage licenses without her signature on them.
What can we expect moving forward? Since the court has ruled that the fundamental right to marry extends to same-sex couples, that sets a constitutional floor with which states and the federal government must comply. Some Republican presidential candidates have called for a federal marriage amendment, echoing calls a decade or so ago. However, given the growing public support for same-sex marriage and the number of states that now allow such marriages, it seems highly improbable that such an amendment would