Obergefell v. Hodges facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Obergefell v. Hodges
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued April 28, 2015 Decided June 26, 2015
Full case name	James Obergefell, et al., Petitioners v. Richard Hodges, Director, Ohio Department of Health, et al.
Docket nos.	14-556
Citations	576 U.S. ___ (more) 135 S. Ct. 2584; 192 L. Ed. 2d 609; 83 U.S.L.W. 4592; 25 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 472; 2015 WL 2473451; 2015 U.S. LEXIS 4250; 2015 BL 204553
Related cases	Bourke v. Beshear, DeBoer v. Snyder, Tanco v. Haslam, Love v. Beshear.
Argument	Oral argument
Opinion Announcement	Opinion announcement
Holding
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. United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed. Baker v. Nelson overturned.
Court membership
Case opinions
Majority	Kennedy, joined by Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan
Dissent	Roberts, joined by Scalia, Thomas
Dissent	Scalia, joined by Thomas
Dissent	Thomas, joined by Scalia
Dissent	Alito, joined by Scalia, Thomas
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. XIV
This case overturned a previous ruling or rulings
Baker v. Nelson (1972)

Obergefell v. Hodges was a very important case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States. In 2015, the Court ruled that the right to marry is a basic human right. This means that same-sex couples have the right to marry in all states. The Court said this right is protected by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

About the Case

The Obergefell v. Hodges case was not just one lawsuit. It combined several cases from different states. These states included Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. The people who brought these cases were same-sex couples and their families.

• All the lower courts had first ruled in favor of the same-sex couples.
• The main person in the case was Jim Obergefell.
• He challenged Ohio's rule against same-sex marriage.
• Jim filed his lawsuit because he could not put his name on his partner's death certificate. Ohio would not recognize their marriage from Maryland.

The Court's Decision

On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court made its final decision. The Court ruled that all states must allow same-sex couples to get married. Also, all states must recognize same-sex marriages that happened in other states.

Chief Justice Roberts disagreed with the decision. He wrote that the right to same-sex marriage is not directly written in the Constitution. However, the majority of the Court believed it was part of the "liberty" protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. This amendment says that states cannot take away a person's liberty without fair legal steps.

Images for kids

• 

  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.

• 

  Justice Anthony Kennedy authored the Court's opinion declaring same-sex couples have the right to marry.

• 

  In his dissent, Chief Justice John Roberts argued same-sex marriage bans did not violate the Constitution.

• 

  Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a dissent rejecting substantive due process.

• 

  The White House illuminated in rainbow colors, which appear on the LGBTQ+ pride flag, on the evening of the ruling

• 

  Plaintiffs Jimmy Meade (left) and Luke Barlowe (right) celebrate at Lexington Pride Festival, Lexington, Kentucky, on the day after the Obergefell ruling.

• 

  Opponents of the decision protest before the steps of the Supreme Court, June 26, 2015.

See also

In Spanish: Caso Obergefell contra Hodges para niños