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Supreme Court Will Hear Marriage Equality Cases This Spring

The order, released Friday, agrees to hear challenges from Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

The order, released Friday, agrees to hear challenges from Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Shutterstock

The Supreme Court agreed on Friday to hear four cases challenging statewide bans on same-sex marriage.

The Court will issue a ruling by the end of the summer.

The cases involve bans in Tennessee, Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio. In November the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals became the first, and so far only, federal appeals court to rule states could refuse to both ban and recognize same-sex marriages. The conservative Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is currently considering the constitutionality of statewide marriage equality bans in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

The Roberts Court had so far declined to get involved in the fight over the constitutionality of statewide same-sex marriage bans after its decision last year in United States v. Windsor striking down a portion of the Defense of Marriage Act. Following Windsor, marriage equality advocates started challenging statewide same-sex marriage bans across the country. Thanks to a string of court victories, marriage equality is now the law of the land in 36 states and the District of Columbia.

The marriage equality cases will be argued in April, with a decision not likely until the end of June.