The marriage equality march is returning the U.S. Supreme Court again this April and this time, the Court may just determine to end the continued discrimination against same-gender couples in the 14 states that refuse to allow loving, committed couples of the same gender to marry. The plaintiffs who caused the straw on the camel’s back to break are a lesbian couple from Michigan whose case created yet another division between the 36 who get it and the 14 who don’t.
If you’re familiar with our marriage equality work, you know we’ve been watching and participating in the marriage equality march from our firm’s inception. So, we are pleased that some sources report that Chief Justice Roberts may side with the plaintiffs in this case. Note, C. J. Roberts did not decide on the constitutionality of state bans in Windsor, and left himself room to join or, even pen, the appropriate decision in this case. Why? Because of Loving v. Virginia, which we and other colleagues have long argued is the fundamental legal basis for providing national marriage equality.
Other legal analysts also wonder if the Court will revisit the term “animus” because the seminal cases involving recognizing individual rights for the LGBTQ community involve a determination of animus on the part of opponents to LGBTQ rights.
The Court has allowed extra time for arguments. The decision is likely to be reached at the end of June.
We are confident where the socially conservative 3 justices – Thomas, Scalia, and Alito – will stand. We are also confident where the socially liberal justices – Ginsberg, Breyer, and Kagan – will stand. Many also think that Kennedy will side with the liberal 3 but we’re not so sure given his recent decisions on individual rights involving minorities. Additionally, Sotomayor was the intervenor for Kansas, providing opponents of marriage equality to at least temporarily prevail in upholding Kansas’s marriage equality ban.
Thus, we’ve got a number of interesting scenarios confronting the question:
- Roberts votes with Ginsberg, Breyer, and Kagan and Kennedy, who sided with them in Windsor, will create a plurality allowing for marriage equality in America and thus, creating the United States of America once again, at least with this issue;
- Roberts votes with the liberal 3 but Kennedy and Sotomayor do not, leaving the patchwork and discrimination in place;
- Roberts votes with the conservative 3 but Kennedy and Sotomayor side with the liberal 3 (see plurality cited in #1);
- Roberts sides with the conservatives and Kennedy or Sotomayor also side with the conservatives (see patchwork and discrimination in #2).
June will be a very interesting month indeed – for the LGBTQ community, for America, and for the Roberts Court legacy.
