Deboer v. Snyder
Headline: Same-sex marriage questions: Court granted review to decide whether states must license and recognize same-sex marriages, setting focused briefing and argument that will affect same-sex couples’ legal status.
Holding: The Court granted limited review to decide whether the Fourteenth Amendment requires states to license same-sex marriages and to recognize lawfully performed out-of-state same-sex marriages.
- Could require states to license marriages between same-sex couples.
- Could require states to recognize legally performed out-of-state same-sex marriages.
- Sets briefing and argument schedule ahead of a final merits decision.
Summary
Background
A consolidated petition from the Sixth Circuit asks two clear questions: whether the Fourteenth Amendment requires a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex, and whether it must recognize a same-sex marriage lawfully performed out of state. The Court granted limited review of those two questions and set specific deadlines for briefs and oral argument time.
Reasoning
Instead of deciding the merits now, the Court narrowed its review to the two constitutional questions and allocated argument time—ninety minutes for the first question and one hour for the second. The order also limited which briefs and arguments the parties may present and set filing dates for petitioners, respondents, and replies. The Court’s action is procedural: it agrees to hear and decide those two issues but has not yet ruled on what the Constitution requires.
Real world impact
The questions the Court will decide go to whether states must allow same-sex couples to marry and whether they must recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. The order moves the case toward a full decision on those rights by scheduling argument and briefing, but the final answer will come after full briefing and oral argument, so the legal situation could still change.
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