Supremes yield to public opinion: Institution of marriage no longer sacred

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday denied review in all five pending same-sex marriage cases, clearing the way for such marriages to proceed in Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin.

MarriageThe move was a major surprise and suggests that the justices are not going to intercede in the wave of decisions in favor of same-sex marriage at least until a federal appeals court upholds a state ban. The move will almost immediately increase the number of states allowing same-sex marriage from 19 to 24, along with the District of Columbia. …

The justices last agreed to hear a constitutional challenge to a same-sex marriage ban, California’s Proposition 8, in December 2012. But a majority of the justices said it was not properly before the court. That move indicated that the Supreme Court may have wanted to stay out of the fray until the number of states allowing same-sex marriage was much higher. …

Popular opinion has moved much faster than the courts on same-sex marriage, however, with many Americans and large majorities of young people supporting it.

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