Obergefell V. Hodges: Case Study

The Supreme Court’s decision finalized the questions of whether states have the right to pass laws treating marriages differently based upon sex, and if states have to acknowledge the marriage of same-sex couples who were married in another state. On a 5-4 decision, the Court determined that the Fourteenth Amendment requires states to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples because they cannot be treated differently than opposite sex couples. The court also determined that states have to recognize same-sex marriages the same way they do with opposite-sex. However, the Supreme Court did not create a law about same sex marriage, it just stated that

The Supreme Court is the highest judicial court in a county or a state and it is the highest federal court in the United States today. Today I will be reviewing the case of Obergefell v. Hodges which was a Supreme Court case about same sex marriage. I will review the justice who wrote the opinion of the court and the justice who wrote the dissenting opinion for this case.

A group of gay couples sued their various relevant state agencies in the states of Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and also in Tennessee. The lawsuits challenged the constitutionality of the bans perpetrated by the states on same-sex marriages or the states’ refusal for the recognition of such legal marriages that occurred within their jurisdictions. The plaintiffs in Obergefell v. Hodges argued that the statutes in their states violated the clause of equal protection. It also violated the clause of Due Protection of the fourteenth amendment. One of the plaintiffs brought an issue with the claims of civil rights. In all the circumstances, the trying courts found favour for the plaintiffs. However, the court of appeal for the 6th Circuit reversed the rulings and held that the ban on same-sex marriages by the states never violated the couples’ 14th amendment rights. The following article will, therefore, give a description and summary of the case Obergefell v. Hodges. It will give its current argument and later take a position so as to argue for one side of the case.

The court decided that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees that the right to marry is a fundamental liberty that belongs not only to opposite-sex couples but as well same-sex couples. The court believes the right to marry is a fundamental liberty because it protects the intimacy of the couple, defines the family and keeps the social order. Because the principles of marriage are the same for same-sex couples as opposite-sex couples then prohibiting same-sex couples the right to marry would violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment also guarantees that to deny same-sex couples the right to marry would also deny them equal protection under the law. So therefore, the Constitution protects the fundamental right of same-sex couples to

The Supreme Court supported this decision by ruling that the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause and Due Process Clause promise such liberties. This decision showed the country just how controversial same-sex marriage is as many states, including Tennessee and Kentucky, provided moral obligations as their reasons behind the appeals. This relates to the civil liberties and civil rights in the united states because it violated the Equal Protection Clause and Due Process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This decision supports the 14th amendments and supports federal laws as supreme over state laws. This case relates to the 9th amendment because according to the ninth amendment, the “enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” This means that there is no discussion in the original constitution, people have the right to get married. Same sex marriage is a hot topic right now and it seems that in recent years, its been a constant battle of it should be legal or not. So people are interpreting the constitution differently

In April 28, 2015, the Obergefell v. Hodges case was conducting an oral argument about two and a half hours in US Supreme Court. The core issue is whether the rights of same-sex marriage should be protected by The Fourteenth Amendment.

Supreme Court passed Proposition 8 which states that marriage should be between a man and a woman. Perry claims that not allowing gay couples to marry violates Amendment Fourteen, the Equal Protection Clause. On the contrary, Hollingsworth argues that same-sex couples are a bad example of married couples that have kids, as well as a religion that indicates a marriage solely for a man and a woman. This particular case questions if the Supreme Court has the right to say that a marriage should only be between a man and a woman and that if gay couples marry will it be a bad example to other marriages and the kids they have. Another case that this article brings up is United States v Windsor, in this case a couple that marries in Canada but lives in New York does not get defined as married couple. Since one of the partners passed away, all of the property the person left to her partner had taxes to be payed that she shouldn’t have to pay in the first place, but because in New York they weren’t an official married couple, she had to do

Therefore, in spite of the various arguments against it, in a long-sought victory for the

A hot topic in American politics today is the question of civil rights. While a civil right is defined as an enforceable right or privilege, people still have trouble agreeing what should be counted as a civil right. In a recent event, two civil rights that come into contention with each other were gay marriage and religious freedom. A prime example of the conflict was the case of Kim Davis, who denied same-sex couples marriage licenses based on religious freedom. The case showed us that a civil right needs to have limitations so as to not infringe on other constitutional civil rights. In other words, the state should not allow religious freedom to hinder marriage equality. This is what we will examine throughout the

This paper will examine problem on how states are not regulating same sex marriage law passed in the United States. I will explains certain areas in the united states where the government has yet to fully enforced the law for legalization of same sex marriage since its official decision on June 26, 2015 while in fact many states have done everything in their power to prevent homosexuals from expressing their new constitutional right. In the following I will talk about certain a state and its government official in power trying to get the legislation to reconsider their current decision. I will also speak about 2 court cases which give us the current nationwide act of same sex marriage; Obergefell v. Hodges and United States v. Windsor. Although there are far more cases on the subjects they have had influences that have not had as major contribution as these two cases have had. I will recommend three policies that would help the LGBT community regarding their union right; stricter establishment of enforcing the law, reinforcing the separation of church and state, and educating the community on the benefits of same sex marriage.

I read the article “Texas case could test limits of gay marriage ruling’, which can be found at http://www.mystatesman.com/news/texas-case-could-test-limits-gay-marriage-ruling/gU9DdXtHwwfTrfjAdt1vZK/. In this article it explains the Texas Supreme Court’s decision to deny same-sex couples the benefits of their spouses as well as the controversy that goes with it throughout the

In 2003, Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Court made a 4-3 decision to legalize same-sex marriage on the merit that there was no constitutional reason adequate enough to deny same-sex couples the same benefits of other married couples (Jost, Gay Marriage Showdowns). In California’s Supreme Court ruling, it was said that being able to marry was a fundamental right in the state’s constitution, straight or not. (Jost, Gay Marriage Showdowns). However, there were 26 states in 2008 who had constitution amendments to prohibit or ban same-sex couples from marrying (Jost, Gay Marriage Showdowns). The voters voted in favor of the proposition, however two lower Federal Courts in California ruled this proposition as “unconstitutional” (Jost, Gay Marriage).

What does the Fourteenth Amendment say about gay marriage? The 14th Amendment was drafted in the 19th century and doesn’t directly address the question of sexual orientation and right to marry. The Supreme Court draws its ruling from the fact that the 14th Amendment allows everyone to enjoy the privileges of American citizenship, including marriage without legislated discrimination against their orientation. This ruling can cause many other people to be uncomfortable or disagree with gay marriages.

In the monumental 2015 Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges, the majority of the justices voted that the right to marry is a fundamental right of the people, regardless of the gender of the two-people joining in matrimony. Although this current Supreme Court case is considered a landmark case for the progression towards equality, this national debate pertaining to gay marriage has been going on since the 1986 case of Bowers v. Hardwick, which altered a Georgia law to “consider only the constitutionality of applying the law to homosexual sodomy” (Linder). The decision by this Supreme Court reflects the decades of previous Supreme Court cases about the actual constitutionality of same-sex marriage as well as the ongoing debate between widely different viewpoints. Nevertheless, due to the nature of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, specifically the Fourteenth Amendment, there is a constitutional precedence for the decision to allow homosexual people to marry. In addition, the history of cases about marriage and the recent Supreme Court case solidified the right for these people to marry. As said by Justice Anthony Kennedy, “No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family” (Liptak).

As citizens of the United States, we all have rights protected by our constitution set forth by our founding fathers; however, the right to marry whichever one we choose has been a hot topic for endless debate. In recent years, the repealing of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in California had stirred great deliberation. Marriage equality has been a nation’s issue on and off election agenda. Back in 2013, Supreme Court’s decisions on Hollingsworth vs. Perry, also known as Proposition 8 established oppositions from around the world. As a nation, there should not be any reasons as to why there is sill no clear declaration of answers for this issue. The small percentage would argue that there seem to be progress toward same-sex marriage,