"Obergefell v. Hodges"

Question

by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy

Applying these established tenets, the Court has long held the right to marry is protected by the Constitution. In Loving v. Virginia, which invalidated bans on interracial unions, a unanimous Court held marriage is "one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men." The Court reaffirmed that holding in Zablocki v. Redhail, which held the right to marry was burdened by a law prohibiting fathers who were behind on child support from marrying. The Court again applied this principle in Turner v. Safley, which held the right to marry was abridged by regulations limiting the privilege of prison inmates to marry. Over time and in other contexts, the Court has reiterated that the right to marry is fundamental under the Due Process Clause.

It cannot be denied that this Court's cases describing the right to marry presumed a relationship involving opposite-sex partners. The Court, like many institutions, has made assumptions defined by the world and time of which it is a part. This was evident in Baker v. Nelson, a one-line summary decision issued in 1972, holding the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage did not present a substantial federal question.

Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. ___ (2015)

Question
Use the excerpt from the Supreme Court majority opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges, written by Justice Kennedy, to answer the question.

What does Justice Kennedy suggest in the second paragraph?

(1 point)
Responses

The principle of stare decisis may be used in most legal opinions.
The principle of stare decisis may be used in most legal opinions.

The changing social climate may reverse earlier Court assumptions.
The changing social climate may reverse earlier Court assumptions.

There is insufficient evidence to support legal reasoning based on stare decisis.
There is insufficient evidence to support legal reasoning based on stare decisis .

There is a unifying legal opinion that binds the nine Supreme Court justices.
There is a unifying legal opinion that binds the nine Supreme Court justices.

Answer 1

In the second paragraph of Justice Kennedy's opinion, he suggests that the changing social climate may reverse earlier Court assumptions. He acknowledges that the Court's previous decisions regarding marriage largely presumed it to be a relationship involving opposite-sex partners and indicates that those assumptions were defined by the context and time in which the Court operated. This implies recognition of the evolving understanding of marriage and relationships in society. Therefore, the correct response is:

The changing social climate may reverse earlier Court assumptions.