U.S. Supreme Court Will Rule On Gay Marriage This Term

Updates at 4:02 p.m. ET

The U.S. Supreme Court will decide on gay marriage this term.

The justices said today they will review an appellate court's decision to uphold the ban on same-sex marriage in Ohio, Tennessee, Michigan and Kentucky. The four states are among 14 that ban same-sex marriage.

NPR's Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg tells our Newscast unit that in all four states, district court judges struck down the ban, but their decisions were reversed by a panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals based in Ohio. She adds:

 

"The court said it would hear arguments for 2 1/2 hours in April on two questions: first, whether the constitutional guarantee to equal protection of the law renders invalid state bans on same-sex marriage. And, second, whether states are required to recognize the marriage of a same-sex couple who marry legally in another state."

 

 

The case will be argued in April; a decision is expected by late June.

Lyle Denniston of the SCOTUSblog notes: "The Court fashioned the specific questions it is prepared to answer, but they closely tracked the two core constitutional issues that have led to a lengthy string of lower-court rulings striking down state bans."

The case from Michigan involves couple April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse.

"We are now that much closer to being fully recognized as a family, and we are thrilled," DeBoer said in a statement. "This opportunity for our case to be heard by the Supreme Court gives us and families like ours so much reason to be hopeful."

Today's decision by the justices comes just months after the justices said they won't hear any appeals on same-sex marriage. Although the move did not establish a constitutional right for gay couples to marry, the consequences were effectively the same. Thirty-six states allow gay couples to wed.

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