US Supreme Court to force same-sex marriage ruling on all states

The US Supreme Court says it would announce a ruling on the legality of same-sex marriage, a ruling that all 50 states should follow.

The court announced Friday that by late June or early July, it would answer the question of whether every state in the Union must allow same-sex marriages.

Although some believe the ruling can resolve the controversial issue once and for all, constitutionalists see it as another instance of the high court stripping the sovereignty of the states who are against same-sex marriage, rendering them into “mere administrative subunits of an all-powerful central government,” as The New American reports.

The Supreme Court has accepted to review the issue through cases that were filed by “15 same-sex couples in four states,” according to the New York Times.

Accepting appeals from couples in Michigan, Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio, the justices will consider force-lifting the bans that remain in place in 14 states.

The judges will consider two questions: whether a state must give licenses to same-sex couples and whether it must recognize out-of-state marriages.

Ever since the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court legalized same-sex marriage 12 years ago in 2003, a total of 36 states, along with the District of Columbia, have legalized such marriages, most of them through court rulings.

The population of the states that support same-sex marriage comprises some 70 percent of Americans.

Experts believe that forcing the decision of the Supreme Court as the ultimate arbiter on an issue that has been already decided by the people and their elected state representatives in several states is not constitutionally correct.

The 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati said on the issue that changes to marriage laws should come from “the customary political processes,” not through the courts.

The Supreme Court will likely use the Full Faith and Credit Clause to force its decision on the states. The article basically says that states must respect public policy of other states.

However, opponents of a federal ruling on the issue believe that based on the same article, US states are not mandated to follow Massachusetts ruling when it is against their public policy of banning such marriages.

Article IV, Section 1 of the United States Constitution, known as the "Full Faith and Credit Clause", addresses the duties that states within the United States have to respect the "public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state."

Critics have repeatedly said that same-sex marriage undermines the sanctity of marriage and will lead to the disintegration of family institution.

They say the same-sex marriage is against the nature of human beings and all divine religions define marriage as the union between one man and one woman.

AN/GJH

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