Hollingsworth v. Perry, 570 U.S. 693 (2013), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case that effectively restored same-sex marriage in California. The case began in 2009 when two same-sex couples challenged Proposition 8, a California state constitutional amendment that banned same-sex marriage, under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Background
In May 2008, the California Supreme Court ruled in In re Marriage Cases that laws restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples violated the state's constitution. As a result, same-sex couples gained the right to marry. However, in November 2008, California voters passed Proposition 8, which reinstated the ban on same-sex marriage by amending the state constitution.
Shortly after its passage, several lawsuits were filed to challenge Proposition 8. In Strauss v. Horton (2009), the California Supreme Court upheld Proposition 8, but also ruled that marriages performed before its passage would remain valid.
In May 2009, two same-sex couples, Kristin Perry & Sandra Stier and Paul Katami & Jeffrey Zarrillo, filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California challenging Proposition 8 under federal law. The case was led by attorneys David Boies and Theodore Olson, who famously argued opposite sides in Bush v. Gore, the case that decided the 2000 presidential election.
District Court ruling
In August 2010, Judge Vaughn Walker ruled in Perry v. Schwarzenegger that Proposition 8 violated the U.S. Constitution by denying same-sex couples the fundamental right to marry, thus violating the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. Judge Walker's decision was a landmark ruling that laid the groundwork for further legal battles over marriage equality.
Supreme Court ruling
The case reached the Supreme Court of the United States in 2013 as Hollingsworth v. Perry. The key issue before the Court was not whether same-sex marriage was constitutional, but whether the proponents of Proposition 8 had the legal standing to defend the law after state officials, including Governor Jerry Brown and Attorney General Kamala Harris, refused to do so.
On June 26, 2013, in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the proponents of Proposition 8 did not have legal standing to appeal the lower court's ruling, as they could not demonstrate any direct harm resulting from the decision. The ruling effectively allowed same-sex marriage to resume in California, as the lower court's decision striking down Proposition 8 remained intact.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, joined by Justices Scalia, Ginsburg, Breyer, and Kagan. Justice Anthony Kennedy dissented, arguing that the Court should have ruled on the merits of the case rather than dismissing it for lack of standing.
Aftermath
The Supreme Court's decision in Hollingsworth v. Perry paved the way for same-sex marriage to resume in California. On June 28, 2013, same-sex couples began marrying once again in the state. The case was part of a broader legal movement toward marriage equality in the United States, culminating in the landmark 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
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