The U.S. Supreme Court will announce two highly anticipated rulings on same-sex “marriage” June 26 as part of its final day of the term.
Chief Justice John Roberts announced June 25 the high court would issue its remaining three opinions, which would include one regarding California's Proposition 8 and another on the federal Defense of Marriage Act. Both measures defined marriage as only between a man and a woman.
California voters approved Prop 8 as an amendment to the state constitution in 2008 after the state Supreme Court had legalized gay “marriage” earlier in the year. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, however, invalidated the amendment.
Congress passed and President Clinton signed into law the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in 1996. Lower courts struck down DOMA's Section 3, which defines marriage as a heterosexual union for purposes of such matters as federal benefits. Section 3 also bars the federal government from recognizing same-sex “marriages.”
The justices have several options in the cases. The rulings could range from affirming laws that protect traditional marriage to legalizing same-sex “marriage” throughout the country. Many observers predict the court's decisions will fall somewhere between those possibilities.
California is one of 30 states that define marriage within the state constitution in the traditional sense of one man and one woman. States that have legalized same-sex “marriage” are: Connecticut; Delaware; Iowa; Maine; Maryland; Massachusetts; Minnesota; New Hampshire; New York; Rhode Island; Washington; and Vermont. Gay “marriage” also is legal in the District of Columbia.
The Supreme Court announced five decisions June 24 and three June 25. After Tuesday's ruling announcements, Roberts said the justices would issue the remainder of their opinions June 26.
(BP)
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