Supreme Court to Rule on Gay Marriage

The Supreme Court will weigh in on the constitutionality of gay marriage in a matter of months. Justices today said they would hear arguments in April, with a decision expected in late June, reports AP. The main question: whether all Americans, regardless of what state they live in, have a right to marry, explains the Washington Post. Justices will hear arguments in four new cases, reports SCOTUSblog, which sums things up this way: The court "said it would rule on the power of the states to ban same-sex marriages and to refuse to recognize such marriages performed in another state."

The cases in question are from Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee, where courts have upheld restrictions on same-sex marriage. Justices set aside two and a half hours for arguments, a longer amount than usual. As of now, 36 states and the District of Columbia allow gay couples to wed. Observes the New York Times: "The court’s announcement made it likely that it would resolve one of the great civil rights questions of the age before its current term ends in June." (More US Supreme Court stories.)