The nine justices announced on Friday they will review a 6th Circuit court’s decision to uphold a ban on same-sex marriages in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee. The 6th Circuit ruling goes against other Circuit courts, which have ruled bans on same-sex marriage are unconstitutional. Currently 14 states have a ban on gay marriage.
The argument will take place in April and ruling is expected in June.
The court said it would specifically address two questions: Does the 14th Amendment require a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex? And does the 14th Amendment require a state to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-state?
With the addition of Florida earlier this month, 36 states and the District of Columbia now allow gay marriage.
The Supreme Court's decision to take up the case may expand marriage rights in the remaining 14 states, which Justice Antonin Scalia said was “inevitable,” in his blistering dissent in the DOMA case in 2013.
According to Reuters the Justice Department says the Obama Administration will urge the Supreme Court to legalize gay marriage nationwide.
