The historic constitutional test of gay marriage rights unfolds on March 26, when the U.S. Supreme Court takes up California’s same-sex marriage ban, a case in which opponents to the ban seek not a narrow victory, but full participation by gay couples in the fundamental right to marry.
More than 40 years have passed since the high court faced its first and only same-sex marriage challenge, one brought by Minnesotan Richard James "Jack" Baker. The justices, without comment, dismissed Baker v. Nelson for want of a substantial federal question. There is little doubt that the Roberts Court will have much more to say, and what it says could well define the court for years to come.
