Question at position 20 What was the immediate legal effect of the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling?It allowed states to decide individually whether to recognize same-sex marriage.It invalidated state laws that prohibited same-sex marriage, making it legal nationwide.It required the federal government to provide benefits but allowed states to still ban same-sex marriages.It established that the federal government did not have the authority to regulate marriage

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

The Supreme Court’s holding in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) rests on the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses: the Court found that the right to marry is a fundamental liberty and that denying same-sex couples that right or refusing to recognize their marriages violates constitutional protections.

Relevant knowledge points:
- Fourteenth Amendment: Due Process protects fundamental rights; Equal Protection forbids unjustified discrimination by states.
- Pre-Obergefell: many states had statutes or constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage or refusing recognition of such marriages from other states.
- Supreme Court precedent: when the Court declares a state law unconstitutional, that law is unenforceable nationwide.

Step-by-step reasoning:
1. Plaintiffs challenged state bans on same-sex marriage and refusals to recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages as violating the Fourteenth Amendment.
2. The Court asked whether the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses guarantee same-sex couples the right to marry and require states to recognize same-sex marriages lawfully performed elsewhere.
3. In a majority opinion (Justice Kennedy), the Court concluded the right to marry is fundamental and includes same-sex couples; state bans and nonrecognition were unconstitutional.
4. The immediate legal effect: state laws and constitutional provisions that prohibited or refused to recognize same-sex marriage were invalidated; states could no longer enforce those bans and had to license and recognize same-sex marriages.

Why the correct answer is correct:
Invalidating the state prohibitions meant same-sex marriage became legal nationwide because the Supreme Court’s constitutional ruling bound all states and made those bans unenforceable.

Why the other options are incorrect:
- Allowing states to decide individually is the opposite of the decision: the Court removed that discretion.
- Limiting relief to federal benefits while allowing states to ban is inaccurate; the ruling struck down state bans, not merely federal recognition.
- Declaring the federal government lacked authority contradicts the Court’s use of the Fourteenth Amendment to constrain states.

Conclusion: The correct answer is that Obergefell invalidated state laws prohibiting same-sex marriage, making it legal nationwide.

Similar Questions

Question at position 7 When the Supreme Court issues a "Majority Opinion," it means:The President agrees with the Court's decisionThe case must be retried in a lower courtThe public has voted on the outcome of the caseAt least five of the nine justices agree on the ruling and the reasoning behind it

Question at position 5 What is the primary role of the Judicial Branch as defined in the Constitution?To enforce the lawsTo interpret the laws To command the militaryTo create new laws

Question at position 20 Under what clause was Roe v. Wade deemed constitutional?The right to lifeThe right to bodily autonomyThe right to medical careThe right to privacy

The case or controversy requirement ensures that courts are not rendering decisions in disputes that are merely Blank ______.

What case made same-sex marriage legal in the US?

If a law (Law X) is contradictory to the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 (NZBORA), the courts can:

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