Obergefell v. Hodges
United States Supreme Court
576 U.S. ___ (2015)
Several same-sex couples, including James Obergefell, whose partner John Arthur died shortly after they married in Maryland only for Ohio to refuse to list Obergefell as his surviving spouse, along with other couples facing similar bans on parental rights and marriage recognition in Michigan and Tennessee, sued state officials (defendants) in federal courts across four states challenging bans on same-sex marriage and recognition of out-of-state same-sex marriages. The district courts ruled for the plaintiffs, but the Sixth Circuit consolidated the cases and reversed, holding states had no constitutional obligation to license or recognize such marriages, and the Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Whether the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment require states to license marriages between same-sex couples and to recognize same-sex marriages lawfully performed in other states.