Senske 1

Delphinia Senske

English 3A

Ms.Baker / Mr.Brandes

17 December 2018

Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court Case

Obergefell v. Hodges is one of the most well known Supreme Court cases not only

because of the changes it made to laws around the country, but because it represents a milestone

in this country’s path towards equal rights. In the groundbreaking case the Supreme Court ruled

that laws preventing same-sex marriage violated the 14th amendment, which says no state has

the right to “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny

to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” (Wikipedia.com) This

ruling changed millions of Americans lives and made the United States the 20th country to have

legalized gay marriage.

The Obergefell v. Hodges case began with James Obergefell and his partner John Arthur.

Arthur suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and knew that he did not have a lot of

time left with his partner. So when the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was brought down by

the Supreme Court, Obergefell and Arthur got married immediately. Though sadly after Arthur’s

death the state of Ohio refused to recognize that he was married on his death certificate.

Obergefell filed a case against Ohio’s state government, the main respondent being Richard

Hodges, who at time was the director of Ohio’s Department of Health. (ACLU.org) Obergefell

argued that Ohio’s refusal to recognize their marriage violated the constitutional rights included

in the 14th amendment. According to Oyez.org between January 2012 and February 2014
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Obergefell merged with cases from Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee, all cases that were

also fighting to have their marriages recognized or allowed by their state governments.

After all cases were ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, the cases were passed through the

fourth, seventh, ninth, and tenth circuits courts, all ruling that bans on same-sex marriage were

unconstitutional. The sixth circuit court ruled against the other courts and stated that they could

not rule in favor of the plaintiffs because of Baker v. Nelson, a ruling made by the Minnesota

state Supreme Court in 1971 that stated same-sex marriage bans did not violate the constitution.

This opposing decision made Obergefell v. Hodges a perfect case for Supreme Court review.

After two months of review the Supreme Court made their decision on June 26th, 2015,

the decision officially overturned Baker v. Nelson and required all states to recognize same-sex

marriages. The 5-4 majority opinion was written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, who was joined

by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. One of

the things they wrote was “The federal statute is invalid, for no legitimate purpose overcomes the

purpose and effect to disparage and to injure those whom the State, by its marriage laws, sought

to protect in personhood and dignity. By seeking to displace this protection and treating those

persons as living in marriages less respected than others, the federal statute is in violation of the

Fifth Amendment. This opinion and its holding are confined to those lawful marriages.”

(Ballotpedia.org) They also stated that because there is no difference in gay and straight

marriages, gay marriages are included in the fundamental liberties that the 14th amendment

protects. On the other hand the dissenting opinion, written by Chief Justice John G. Roberts,

argued that because the constitution does not directly address marriage the state governments

should be allowed to make their own laws regarding gay marriage.

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When the decision was announced it sent shockwaves through the LGBTQ+ community,

it represented years of fighting for equal rights. Same sex couples around the nation rushed out to

finally get married to their partners, some even on the steps of the Supreme Court. Legal

same-sex marriage had been a goal for the equal rights movement since it was started, but it still

has a long way to go. The American Civil Liberties Union has laid out the movements next

goals, including civil rights protections, passing laws protecting trans rights, and securing a

parenting law for same sex parents. Overall the supreme court case Obergefell v. Hodges has

changed the lives of millions of Americans, and represents an increasingly accepting society.

Obergefell v. Hodges Work Cited

“Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.” ​Wikipedia,​ Wikimedia

Foundation, 5 Dec. 2018,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution.
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“GLAD Hails Historic Day As Supreme Court Strikes Down Remaining Marriage Bans.”
GLAD​, 10 Feb. 2017,
www.glad.org/post/glad-hails-historic-day-supreme-court-strikes-remaining-marriage-bans/.

“Jim Obergefell.” ​American Civil Liberties Union​, Aclu,

www.aclu.org/bio/jim-obergefell.

“Obergefell v. Hodges .” ​Oyez.org​, www.oyez.org/cases/2014/14-556.

“Obergefell v. Hodges.” ​Wikipedia​, Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Dec. 2018,en.wikiped

ia.org/wiki/Obergefell_v._Hodges.

“Obergefell v. Hodges.” ​Ballotpedia​, ballotpedia.org/Obergefell_v._Hodges.

“Same-Sex Marriage in the United States.” ​Wikipedia​, Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Dec.

2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_the_United_States.