Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015), is a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States which ruled that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution. The 5–4 ruling requires all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and the Insular Areas to perform and recognize the marriages of same-sex couples on the same terms and conditions as the marriages of opposite-sex couples, with all the accompanying rights and responsibilities. Prior to Obergefell, same-sex marriage had already been established by statute, court ruling, or voter initiative in thirty-six states, the District of Columbia, and Guam.
Outside the Supreme Court on the morning of June 26, 2015, James Obergefell (foreground, center) and attorney Al Gerhardstein (foreground, left) react to its historic decision.
Plaintiffs Gregory Bourke (left) and Michael DeLeon (right) celebrate outside the Supreme Court building on June 26, 2015.
Judge Jeffrey Sutton wrote the Sixth Circuit's majority opinion upholding same-sex marriage bans, causing the circuit split that helped trigger Supreme Court review.
On the morning of June 26, 2015, outside the Supreme Court, the crowd celebrates the Court's decision.
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on questions of U.S. constitutional or federal law. It also has original jurisdiction over a narrow range of cases, specifically "all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party." The court holds the power of judicial review: the ability to invalidate a statute for violating a provision of the Constitution. It is also able to strike down presidential directives for violating either the Constitution or statutory law.
The Royal Exchange, New York City, the first meeting place of the Supreme Court
The court lacked its own building until 1935. From 1791 to 1801, it met in Philadelphia's City Hall, before moving to the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.
John Marshall, chief justice from 1801 to 1835
The U.S. Supreme Court Building, current home of the Supreme Court, which opened in 1935