The Law Can Affect Family Life Essay

In The Gay Marriage Case, Obergefell v Hodges, the United States Supreme Court decided that a state may not prohibit same-sex marriage. Instead, it emphasized that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to the gay society through the Due Process Clause of the 14th amendment of the United States of America Constitution. The involved decision maker in the case was Justice Anthony Kennedy, who gave four primary reasons for his decision.

The Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956 primarily deals with the issue of guardianship to a minor child. The expression ‘minor’ includes a person who has not completed the age of eighteen years. The Act is applicable only to the persons who are Hindu by religion. Section 6 of the act provides that the father shall be the guardian of minor child and after him mother shall be the guardian. Even under Muslim Law, father has preferred right over child. The proviso thus, discriminates between the father and mother.

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

Prior to the Civil War in 1865, most of the African Americans remained slaves and were denied life, liberty and property. The 14th Amendment paved the way for former slaves and oppressed groups of people to come, granting them citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws. One of the main oppressed groups currently are same sex couples. For a long period of time, they were denied marriage and did not receive any rights as far as benefits because they loved a person of the same gender. In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that all state bans on same-sex marriage unconstitutional and made same sex marriage legal in the United States of America.

Society’s opinions are constantly, and rapidly changing, and consequently this poses significant challenges to the family law system in Australia. A family is a social unit containing individuals related by blood, marriage or other legally recognised relationships. Family law reforms have been implemented over the past three decades, entailing the recognition of same sex couples. Furthermore, a statutory presumption of shared parenting – as instigated by society’s transitioning values – displays the changing nature of parental responsibility. Not only are society’s views progressing, but surrogacy and birth technologies are

With respect to family, assess the ability of the legal system to respond to differing issues concerning values

I join the opinion of the court in favor of Hodges and offer these accompanying thoughts. In order to determine if the state is required under the Fourteenth Amendment to license a marriage of same sex, we must establish a foundation in regards to marriage and its entitlements. The court argues that marriage “is not a fundamental right,” and with this conclusion, the state is not be required to legally recognize any marriage it does not see fit. Fundamental rights are due strict scrutiny, but issues of liberty interest only require rational basis. There is a significant difference between the two approaches with ‘rational basis’ only requiring that the law be related to a government interest. “Rational basis” review is generally used in cases where fundamental rights are of issue and is thus fitting for this case under these assumptions.” The constitution does not specifically list marriage as a fundamental right in the Bill of Rights or any of its additional amendments and thus leaves ample room for interpretation of is significance. The defense attempts to use the Fourteenth amendment in their defense as it asserts,

On June 26,2015, the Supreme Court sided that gay marriage is a right protected by the U.S. Constitution in all 50 states. Previously, to their decision, same sex marriage was already legal in 37 states and

In the summer of 2015 the U.S supreme court ruled in favor to legalize same-sex marriage in all 50 countries in the United States. This all occurred because of the Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) case. This very important case involved “14 same-sex couples and two men whose same-sex partners are deceased” and the couples argued that the “state officials violated [their] 14th amendment by denying them the right to marry or to have marriages lawfully performed in another state given full recognition and also violated their equal protection Clause. The supreme court ruled for this case because in the 14th Amendment it clearly declares that all people should have “equal protection under the law”, regardless of race or ethnicity.

The judges based their decision on the principle of equality of all before the law. The 14th Amendment requires a state to celebrate a marriage between two persons of the same sex. According to US constitutional law, each US state has its own Constitution, but it is above all the US Federal Constitution. To date 37 of the 50 American states, as well as the District of Columbia, recognized gay marriage. Now, the 14 American states that still refuse to unite two persons of the same sex will not only have to marry

All families face challenges in their everyday life. For some, the challenges are easier to handle while for others, surmounting those challenges can be more difficult. Over the years, the LGBT community in the US has faced many hurdles. Whether it’s the legalization of same-sex marriage to adoption rights to alimony, child support and child custody in case of divorce, legislation specific to gay and lesbian couples still has a long way to go.

According to DOMA, “In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word 'marriage' means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word 'spouse' refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife” (sec 3). Until recently 2013, the US Supreme Court finally delivered the verdict that declared section 3 of the DOMA, which is the rejection of right to gay marriage is unconstitutional (Shapiro 208). In “Gay Marriage Is A Fundamental Right” by Nathan Goetting, “The right to many, and to marry the person of one's choice, is a fundamental right and a necessary aspect of human happiness. This has been an explicitly stated abiding principle since the Court used its power of judicial review to strike down as unconstitutional a legislature's definition of marriage in 1967.” Currently, 17 states in the United States have legalized the right to same sex marriage. The realization of DOMA is unconstitutional has further evidenced that gay marriage is one of the civil right that should not be taken away by the government, and it is an inevitable changes that open doors for equality and equity.

The fourteenth amendment states that “no State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States: nor shall any State deprive any person life, liberty, or property”. This is a social constitutional issue because the fourteenth amendment should allow to have the same rights as any person does. The right to marry should be allowed to gay couples because it’s allowed for people who aren’t gay. In the case United States v Windsor the gay couples didn’t have the same benefits as a “regular” couple would, because the gay couple weren’t given the same rights, they had to pay taxes that weren’t necessary for a married couple. The Supreme Court says that all people are treated equally they have to go through a test called Lindsley Test. This tests checks out the standards of the case and what classifications they fall

Divorce is hard on everyone, but no one is as devastated as the children. For this reason, the family law and child custody attorneys at Woods, May & Matlock work diligently to help families resolve their issues without going through a litigious process. Court is stressful, expensive and time-consuming. Our team of family law and child custody attorneys look for ways to help families reach a compromise without an ugly courtroom battle. For anyone looking for a family law attorney or child custody attorney in Frisco, TX who truly puts the health and well being of the family first, Woods, May & Matlock is the team to call.

Some people state that allowing same-sex couples to adopt or have a child would negatively impact that child’s life because they believe that a child must live with one mom and one dad. However, “studies have demonstrated that children’s well-being is affected much more by their relationships with their parents, their parent 's sense of competence and security, and the presence of social and economic support for the family than by the gender or the sexual orientation of their parents” (Millstein). The sexuality of the parents does not affect the child as much as most might believe. Children who are raised by same-sex couples can grow up and live an ordinary life just like children that are raised by both their mom and dad or even just their mom or just their dad. Also, many agencies would reject same-sex couples to adopt a child based on their religious beliefs (“LGBT Adoption Facts”). Same sex couples are being