In March, 2013 the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear Hollingsworth v. Perry.
The Issue to be determined is:
(1) Whether the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits the State of California from defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman.
(2) whether petitioners have standing under Article III, § 2 of the Constitution in this case. The attached link will take you to the Petition filed and all of the response briefs prepared for hearing.
The Court could dodge the issue by determining that the parties defending Proposition 8 do not have standing, meaning they do not have a legally protectable stake or interest to dispute that entitles them to bring the controversy before the court to obtain judicial relief.
If the Court finds that those who voted for proposition 8 do in fact have standing, then a ruling as to the constitutionality of California’s language as a union only between a man and woman will impact the issue of gay marriage throughout the country. Colorado’s constitution also defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
Should the Supreme Court find that this language is no longer constitutional and a violation of the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution, Colorado may also be inclined to change the language of the state Constitution and legalize gay marriage.
To be clear this case only involves the law in California. The U.S. Constitution still recognizes marriage as a union between a man and a woman, meaning that there will still be many conflicts between the state and federal laws.
