The Supreme Court will hear two cases affecting marriage equality.
According to SCOTUSblog, the Supreme Court in conference on Dec. 7 granted two orders: the challenge to Proposition 8, California’s ban on gay marriage, and United States vs. Windsor, on whether a portion of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) violates the Fifth Amendment guarantee of equal protection of the laws. This would be applied to same sex couples who are legally married under the laws of their state.
In the Windsor case, there are also two other questions: Does the fact that government agreed with the second California decision deprive the Court of jurisdiction to hear and decide the case? And do House GOP leaders have standing in this case?
The Prop 8 case is about “whether the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits the State of California from defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman,” according to SCOTUSblog, and also whether Prop 8’s backers have standing in the case.
