The Supreme Court and Same-sex Marriage

In late June, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down two historic decisions involving the issue of same-sex marriage. In United States v. Windsor, No. 12-307, 2013 WL 3196928 (U.S. June 26, 2013), the Court held unconstitutional section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which limited marriage to heterosexual unions of one man and one woman for purposes of federal law. In a 5-4 decision, the Court held that DOMA's definition of marriage was unconstitutional. In Hollingsworth v. Perry, No. 12-144, 2013 WL 3196927 (U.S. June 26, 2013), the Court held that it did not have jurisdiction to determine the constitutionality of Proposition 8, a 2008 California ballot initiative that amended that state's Constitution to define marriage as the union of a man and a woman. The ruling, also a 5-4 decision, let stand a lower court decision that had struck down Proposition 8 as unconstitutional.”