Supreme Court clears path for same-sex marriage in California


By Sam Baker - 06/26/13 10:28 AM ET


The Supreme Court on Wednesday cleared the way for same-sex couples to marry in California, but avoided directly answering constitutional questions about state marriage laws.
In a 5-4 decision, the court said procedural issues prevented it from reaching a ruling on the merits of California’s Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in the state.

The justices said supporters of Proposition 8 did not have the legal standing to defend it in the courts. They declined to rule on the law’s merits and vacated a federal appeals court’s decision. That process appears to leave in place a lower court’s order preventing state officials from enforcing Proposition 8, which would mean same-sex couples can marry in the state.
But by hewing only to procedure, the Supreme Court avoided several modest options that would have found fault with the substance of Proposition 8. It certainly did not come close to a broad ruling declaring a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, as the attorneys challenging Proposition 8 had wanted.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the court’s decision. Justice Anthony Kennedy led the dissent.
This story was updated at 11:10 a.m.


Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/news/307...#ixzz2XKwWv46q