article_snippet.sent: The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Tuesday in a case that could decide whether gay and lesbian couples nationwide have the constitutional right to marry.
article_snippet.sent: The question at the core of Obergefell v. Hodges is one of the most consequential debates of the early 21st century, and one that is already helping to shape the 2016 presidential race.
article_snippet.sent: Indeed, the lower court that upheld the marriage bans in Michigan, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky in the Obergefell case relied heavily on the argument that states have a right to define marriage.
article_snippet.sent: The Defense of Marriage Act decision overshadowed another 2013 case -- Hollingsworth v. Perry -- that could have determined whether states could ban same-sex marriage.
article_snippet.sent: another 2013 case -- Hollingsworth v. Perry -- that could have determined whether states could ban same-sex marriage concerned a challenge to California's Proposition 8, a state constitutional amendment that barred same-sex couples from marriage.
article_snippet.sent: But John Roberts, writing for the majority, dismissed another 2013 case -- Hollingsworth v. Perry -- that could have determined whether states could ban same-sex marriage, holding that the challengers did not have the legal standing to bring another 2013 case -- Hollingsworth v. Perry -- that could have determined whether states could ban same-sex marriage to the court.
article_snippet.sent: The ruling left in place a lower court decision that had invalidated Proposition 8 and thus paved the way for same-sex marriage in California.
article_snippet.sent: Few people predicted that an issue that wasn't before the court would return so quickly to the court, but waves of lower court judges -- sometimes citing Windsor -- struck down the state bans.
article_snippet.sent: Without comment, the court declined to take up any of the cases, clearing the way for thousands of additional same-sex marriages.
highlights_snippet.sent: Case could decide whether same-sex couples nationwide have constitutional right to marry .
  