Landmark Ruling Takes Same-Sex Marriage Nationwide

Lisa McGlynn’s article “Landmark Ruling Takes Same-Sex Marriage Nationwide” was featured in the Daily Business Review on June 26, 2015.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution requires states to recognize same-sex marriage. As a result, state bans against same-sex marriage are no longer permissible and all states are required to recognize same-sex marriages that take place in other states.

Same-sex marriages have already been legally recognized in Florida since Jan. 6. However, prior to the ruling, 13 states had bans in place against same-sex marriage.

The case at issue, Obergefell v. Hodges, arose from plaintiff James Obergefell's quest to be listed as the surviving spouse on John Arthur's death certificate. Obergefell and Arthur had traveled to Maryland from Ohio specifically to wed after Arthur was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. They had known each other for two decades and married three months before Arthur's death. Obergefell was denied the right to be listed as Arthur's surviving spouse since Ohio's definition of marriage was limited to the union between a man and a woman.

In the article, Lisa examines the downstream impact of the court’s decision on same-sex marriage.

To read the full article, please visit Daily Business Review.