By Timothy Hecker
The United States Supreme Court has final made the landmark decision many people around the country were waiting for in regards to marriage equality and finally making it illegal for states to ban gay marriage. The United States becomes the twenty first country to allow nationwide marriage equality in the landmark case. The court’s long time decision to not even hear the appeals as late as October of last year.
The case titled as Obergefell v. Hodges made the decision as the country was leaning more towards approval with 36 states legalizing the marriages and 70% of Americans living in areas where it was allowed. The decision was made 5 to 4 with Justice Kennedy writing the majority opinion with Sotomayor, Kagan, Ginsburg, and Breyer supporting the majority. Dissent from Chief justice Roberts and Justice Scalia point to a lack of evidence in the constitution addressing the subject and claiming the decision was not based in law but in political appeal. Some experts have called this case the Brown v. The Board of Education of modern times. Since the decision was reached earlier today it reminds us the country and its ideals are constantly shifting and building towards the future to create more opportunity for everyone to be equal in any circumstance but we still have a long way to go.
The immediate aftermath on social media showed the massive support the country’s people have for the idea of marriage equality. This subtly raises the idea that the decision was based on popular to more legitimacy however, there is certainly room for interpretation on either side. Either way the case will have obvious long standing effects in the future and was also written to provide room for more interpretation in the future. What this means for the people of the United States right now suggests that major changes will take place in public policy and that resistance to marriage equality will be loud for a while until the law settles into the culture. However much like civil rights it is likely in due time most of our society will accept it, most likely grudgingly.
Several president candidates have commented on the decisions and a few have stated that the Constitution would need to be amended to ban the decision. The case puts a thorn in the side of several conservative candidates and helps widen the gap between liberals and conservatives further. However, it is important to remember just how necessary this change is in ensuring “liberty and justice for all”
The United States Supreme Court has final made the landmark decision many people around the country were waiting for in regards to marriage equality and finally making it illegal for states to ban gay marriage. The United States becomes the twenty first country to allow nationwide marriage equality in the landmark case. The court’s long time decision to not even hear the appeals as late as October of last year.
The case titled as Obergefell v. Hodges made the decision as the country was leaning more towards approval with 36 states legalizing the marriages and 70% of Americans living in areas where it was allowed. The decision was made 5 to 4 with Justice Kennedy writing the majority opinion with Sotomayor, Kagan, Ginsburg, and Breyer supporting the majority. Dissent from Chief justice Roberts and Justice Scalia point to a lack of evidence in the constitution addressing the subject and claiming the decision was not based in law but in political appeal. Some experts have called this case the Brown v. The Board of Education of modern times. Since the decision was reached earlier today it reminds us the country and its ideals are constantly shifting and building towards the future to create more opportunity for everyone to be equal in any circumstance but we still have a long way to go.
The immediate aftermath on social media showed the massive support the country’s people have for the idea of marriage equality. This subtly raises the idea that the decision was based on popular to more legitimacy however, there is certainly room for interpretation on either side. Either way the case will have obvious long standing effects in the future and was also written to provide room for more interpretation in the future. What this means for the people of the United States right now suggests that major changes will take place in public policy and that resistance to marriage equality will be loud for a while until the law settles into the culture. However much like civil rights it is likely in due time most of our society will accept it, most likely grudgingly.
Several president candidates have commented on the decisions and a few have stated that the Constitution would need to be amended to ban the decision. The case puts a thorn in the side of several conservative candidates and helps widen the gap between liberals and conservatives further. However, it is important to remember just how necessary this change is in ensuring “liberty and justice for all”