Brief Summary Of Article By Jack Pitney

Summary of Articles: Article 1: The author, Jack Pitney, asserts that Same-Sex Marriage is a topic disagreed upon by Americans: whether it is an issue of legality in the Constitution, and whether it should be up to states or the federal government to make a decision. Pitney finds that the minority party in Congress has often sought to oppose legislation by the majority party citing that it should be a states’ rights issue. Yet, when there is a change in the majority, the once-minority party hypocritically defends the issue as being up to the national government. Most politicians prior to 2012 agreed that the issue of Same-Sex marriage was answered by DOMA (1996), and that a piece of legislation by the Federal Government would violate the powers defined in the Constitution. Article 2: Pew Research Center finds that opposition to homosexual marriage hit a high after Bill Clinton signed the DOMA (1996) and continued to remain high until 2007. In 2008, President Barack Obama became the first president to openly support same-sex marriage which led the nation into a frenzy. By 2015, all states were federally required to permit same-sex marriages. Article 3: Opposition to Same-Sex marriage has drastically reduced after the Supreme Court decision. However, small pockets of resistance remain all

Hodges (2015): In Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court was asked to rule on whether the Fourteenth Amendment requires states and their departments to recognize Same-Sex marriage. In a 5-4 ruling, the court found that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees the right to marry since it is one of the protected fundamental liberties. Additionally, the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees the right of same-sex couples to marry. The Court also held that the First Amendment protects the rights of religious organizations to adhere to their principles, but it does not allow states to deny same-sex couples the right to