No Word on Same-Sex Marriage Cases at SCOTUS

We have to wait until Monday to learn the status of gay marriage at the U.S. Supreme Court.

On Friday, Nov. 30, the justices considered petitions in ten cases regarding same-sex marriage.

Nine were various challenges to the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage for purposes of federal law (like Social Security survivorship benefits) as the union of one man and one woman. DOMA also says that if one state creates gay marriage, other states do not need to recognize the validity of those marriages. But none of the cases involving this second issue are currently before the High Court.

The tenth case asks whether the U.S. Constitution includes a fundamental right to same-sex marriage, such that all state laws defining marriage as one man and one woman are unconstitutional.

The Court announced today that it was taking two more cases for arguments early next year. Although they considered the cases involving same-sex marriage, there was no word on them. On Monday morning at 9:30 AM, we’ll learn whether the Court denied review or scheduled them for further discussion on Friday, Dec. 7.

These cases present profoundly important constitutional questions that are increasingly dividing the nation and consuming the attention of the lower federal courts. It’s very likely the Supreme Court will take at least one of these cases.

It is not uncommon for the justices to take more than one weekly conference to decide which cases to take under similar circumstances. Each case is slightly different, and today was the first conference at which all nine justices discussed the issue as a group.

We will update on this story Monday morning when the Court releases its new batch of orders.

Breitbart News legal contributor Ken Klukowski is a senior fellow at the Family Research Council and on faculty at Liberty University School of Law.