States cannot keep same-sex couples from marrying and must recognize their unions, the Supreme Court says in a ruling that for months has been the focus of speculation. The decision was 5-4.
Justice Anthony Kennedy, seen as a pivotal swing vote in the case, wrote the majority opinion. All four justices who voted against the ruling wrote their own dissenting opinions: Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.
Speaking at the White House, President Obama praises the Supreme Court’s ruling, saying it arrived “like a thunderbolt” after a series of back-and-forth battles over same-sex marriage.
Obama says the ruling “will strengthen all of our communities” by offering dignity and equal status to all same-sex couples and their families.
The president calls the ruling “a victory for America.”
The Supreme Court said that the right to marry is fundamental — and Kennedy wrote that under the 14th Amendment’s protections, “couples of the same-sex may not be deprived of that right and that liberty.”
In his dissent, Roberts wrote that the court had taken an “extraordinary step” in deciding not to allow states to decide the issue for themselves, saying that the Constitution does not define marriage.
Calling the ruling “deeply disheartening,” Roberts said that those on the winning side of the issue should celebrate a victory — “But do not celebrate the Constitution,” he wrote. “It had nothing to do with it.”
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