Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court Case 2015

Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court Case 2015

By Madeline Kane, Madeline Wickel, and Megan Shiffert

Continued

Background

• Constitutional questions: Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex? Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex that was legally licensed and performed in another state?

• 14 same-sex couples and 2 single gay men whose partners had died filed complaints in their respective home states to either acknowledge their marriages in states where gay marriage was illegal, or to legalize gay marriage.
• The sixth circuit consolidated all of the cases and reversed the rulings. The couples challenged that the states violated the fourteenth Amendment by refusing them the right to marry or recognize marriages performed out-of-state.
• The case went to the Supreme Court on January 16, 2015
• was argued April 28, 2015

Obergefell

• Before the Supreme Court, it was argued that marriage should be granted to same-sex couples and recognized in all states as a valid marriage due to the fourteenth Amendment. The states' denial of their right to marry detracted from their quality of life, and stripped them of their freedom to marry whomever they choose.
• Another argument presented was that not allowing same-sex couples to marry negatively impacted the lives of their children, whether from previous relationships or adoption. They sufferred from the stigma associated with homosexuality, and could not be legally recognized as children of a married couple, complicating their lives in several ways.

Ruling

• In a 5-4 ruling on June 26, 2015, the Court held that the fourteenth Amendment, through the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses, gives same-sex couples the right to marry, and that the states must acknowledge same-sex couples' married status.

Hodges

• The respondents were made up of 4 state officials.
• They argued that legalizing same-sex marriage detracted from the value of the timeless institution of marriage between one man and one woman.
• Hodges argued that since procreation and the bearing of children can only occur between a man and a woman, and children usually are healthier in a home with both parents, then the institution of marriage should not be extended to same-sex couples.
• The Fourteenth Amendment does not require States with traditional marriage laws to recognize marriages from other States between two persons of the same sex.
• The institution of marriage did not develop to deny dignity or to give second class status to anyone, but simply developed to serve purposes that arise from biology

Works Cited

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/14-556_3204.pdf

https://www.oyez.org/cases/2014/14-556

https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R44143.pdf

http://gaymarriage.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=006193