US Supreme Court hears same-sex marriage arguments

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The US Supreme Court has now heard the arguments from both sides of the same-sex marriage issue. The court's ruling will be issued in late June. It is expected that the court will be split 4-to-4, with Justice Anthony Kennedy casting the deciding vote. While nobody can say just yet how the court will rule, most analysts seem to think the court will rule in favor of same-sex marriage. Several justices are quite predictable as to how they will vote. Does anyone really need a crystal ball to figure out how the sainted Anthony Scalia is likely to vote?

There are two basic issues upon which the court will rule:

1. Do states have a constitutional right to prohibit same-sex marriage under the 14th amendment to the Constitution?

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2. If states do have the right to prohibit same-sex marriage, are they compelled to legally recognize same-sex marriages that took place in states where such marriages are permitted?

36 of the 50 states already permit same-sex marriage. The court's ruling will have the most significant effect on the 14 remaining states and, of course, federal law.
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