On July 26, the Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that states must recognize same-sex marriage. The long awaited decision was 5-4, with Justice Kennedy casting the swing vote in favor of upholding same-sex unions. In his opinion for the majority, Kennedy wrote:

No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.

Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S.    (2015).

Citing the 14^th Amendment, the ruling reversed the decision of the lower court, the United States Court of Appeal for the Sixth Circuit, which had ruled, “[a] state had no constitutional obligation to license same-sex marriages or to recognize same-sex marriages performed out of state.” Obergefell, 576 U.S.   (2015). Originally, Obergefell v. Hodges consisted of three separate suits filed by same sex couples challenging bans on gay marriage in several states, including Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, and Tennessee.

News of the decision traveled swiftly, with media outlets and social media buzzing not long after it was published. News organizations lauded the decision as being in the same echelon as other historically important SCOTUS decisions, such as Brown v. Board of Education and Roe v. Wade. The hashtag #lovewins was trending on Twitter, with thousands of people and organizations tweeting and posting about the case outcome. Even Facebook got involved in the announcement— the social networking site gave users the ability to put a rainbow overlay on their profile pictures, flooding the newsfeed with rainbow photos after the news broke.

In mere minutes, media outlets and social networking sites featured articles and stories on the ruling. As evidenced by the speed at which news of the SCOTUS decision traveled, the world of internet news is highly competitive. Docket Alarm can help you stay ahead of the latest legal news, including Supreme Court decisions. Docket Alarm’s alert tools send email updates the minute a decision is published, ensuring you will be the first to know of the latest SCOTUS developments.

Check out this list of Supreme Court dockets, and hit the “Track this Search” button to receive email alerts whenever a new docket is filed.  To track any individual case, just click on a result, and select “Track This Docket” to receive alerts whenever a new petition is granted, or when a decision is published.

For example, you can receive alerts on the highly anticipated affirmative action case Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin by clicking here, and selecting “Track this Docket.” 

Receive alerts once a week, daily, or even continuously. Email alerts contain a PDF attachment of the update or filing, eliminating the need to log into the platform. With Docket Alarm’s email alert tool, you will always be one step ahead of breaking legal news.

Sign up at www.docketalarm.com to start receiving email alerts on SCOTUS decisions.