CANICOSA, Albert Joshua F.
BSLM4A

Research Paper in Legal Research

On June 26, 2015, the United States of America made history when the United States Supreme Court decided that the denial of same sex marriage violates the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution. In their ruling, the Supreme Court held that “The Fourteenth Amendment requires a State to license a marriage between two people of the same sex and to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-State.” (Obergefell et al. v. Hodges, Director, Ohio Department Of Health, et al., 576 U.S. __ No. 14-556 (2015) making same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states, giving them as Justice Anthony Kennedy said “equal dignity in the eyes of the law”. Though most are happy with the decision, there are some who are not glad with it. In his dissent Chief Justice John Roberts believes that it is not the Supreme Court’s duty to decide whether a law should be passed or not. “Judges have power to say what the law is, not what it should be” he adds “the Constitution authorized courts to exercise neither force nor will but merely judgment.” And because of the decision that the court made, people who are against same sex marriage will be forced to accept it. Many conservatives are disappointed with the decision; some of them are moving to make a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage. In an interview, Republican Presidential Candidate and Florida Governor Jeb Bush said that "In a country as diverse as ours, good people who have opposing views should be able to live side by side. It is now crucial that as a country we protect religious freedom and the right of conscience and also not discriminate". (LoBianco, T. (2015). GOP 2016 hopefuls seek footing on marriage ruling.)

Because of this ruling, there have been rumors about legalizing same sex