The Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments Tuesday in the case involving California's Proposition 8, which passed in 2008 and banned the state from recognizing same-sex marriages. The audio of the back-and-forth between the justices and lawyers on either side of the case can be heard in its entirety here:
The Supreme Court won't deliver a ruling on Proposition 8 until later this summer. Oral arguments can give some faint clues as to what the justices might do -- indeed, some reporters suggested the justices' comments and lines of questioning might indicate they will decide the case lacks standing.
First #SCOTUS take: Very significant questions about whether the proponents had standing to bring the #Prop8 appeal at all.— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) March 26, 2013
Just left Prop 8 case. Justices were very skeptical that the case even has standing. Flirted with throwing it out.— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) March 26, 2013
If the court indeed decides the case lacks standing to be heard, that would mean the lower court's prior striking-down of Proposition 8 would stand. As New York Magazine's Joe Coscarelli wrote, the "nationwide consequences" of that outcome are still up in the air.
Regardless, no prediction based solely on oral arguments should be taken as gospel -- anxious advocates and opponents of same-sex marriage will most likely have to wait until late June to hear the results of this case and the one surrounding the Defense of Marriage Act, for which arguments will be heard Wednesday.