The U.S. Supreme Court will rule by the end of this month whether gay marriage should be legal across the country -- a decision that could alter the social fabric of the nation.
June is the last month of the court’s term, and the justices tend to wait until the final week of the term to deliver their biggest blockbusters. During June, they typically issue orders on Mondays.
So is Monday, June 29, the day? The decision on gay marriage could be historic, but the justices also are ruling in an important Obamacare case. Will they announce the rulings on same-sex marriage and Obamacare on different Mondays or rule on both on the same day?
The case: Obergefell v. Hodges
James Obergefell is a Cincinnati resident who, in 2013, flew to Maryland with his partner of more than two decades and married him at the airport. They flew in a specially equipped plane because Obergefell’s partner, John Arthur, had ALS. Shortly before he died, Arthur sued to force the state of Ohio to recognize the two as spouses. Among other things, he wanted Obergefell’s name to appear on the death certificate as Arthur’s spouse. Richard Hodges, director of the Ohio Health Department, is the named defendant.
Joined to the case
The Supreme Court consolidated similar lawsuits challenging same-sex marriage bans in Kentucky, Tennessee and Michigan. A lawsuit is pending in Georgia, but Georgia’s ban is not specifically part of this case.
Potential impacts in Georgia
- Plaintiffs say they aren't asking the court to create a new constitutional right to same-sex marriage, according to scotusblog.com. They are asking that gay couples be accorded the same fundamental right to marry that straight couples have enjoyed for millennia. If the court finds that same-sex couples have a right to marry, the impact would be the same in every state, regardless of its laws.
- Alternatively, the court could find that states may continue to ban gay marriage. Remember, though: Obergefell wants to force Ohio to recognize a marriage that was performed legally in Maryland. So that will also be at issue: are all states, regardless of their laws, required to recognize a marriage performed in another state?
- Georgia leaders, including Attorney General Sam Olens, have said they will honor the court's ruling.
The AJC will cover this issue until the court decides it, and then will offer analysis about the impact of the ruling.
