skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Will Marriage Equality Become Law of the Land?

play audio
Play

Monday, June 22, 2015   

INDIANAPOLIS – Any day now, the U.S. Supreme Court will announce a decision that could open the door to same-sex marriage around the nation.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Indiana since last fall, when the U.S Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of a decision from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals that ruled the state's ban unconstitutional.

Jane Henegar, executive director of the ACLU of Indiana, explains the court now will rule on cases from several states after a conflict emerged among other federal rulings.

"That split in the circuits – that disagreement amongst the courts of appeals – necessitated the U.S. Supreme Court taking the case and deciding, we hope once and for all, that marriage equality is the law of the land," says Henegar.

According to a recent poll from the Public Religion Research Institute, 65 percent of Americans believe the Supreme Court will overturn state laws banning same-sex marriage and will make them legal nationwide.

Henegar agrees that marriage equality supporters are optimistic.

She says, "We at the ACLU firmly believe the Constitution and the fundamental right to marry that it contains – and the equal protection under the law that it guarantees – that ultimately, marriage equality will be the law in all 50 states."

Henegar points out that the institution of marriage is interwoven into so many aspects of society, including the tax code, parenting and health care. In her view, it is time for all people to have the same rights.

"Those of us for whom marriage recognition is not an issue, we take that for granted," she says. "But these cases have really demonstrated how important this institution has become to every phase of our lives, and it impacts us around every turn."

Same-sex marriage still is not legal in these states: Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas.




get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021