Ask any American what values founded this country and you will get very similar responses: Liberty, Freedom, or justice. These values are instilled in each American and come as naturally to us as the air we breath, or do they? Just as women fought for suffrage, and African Americans in the civil rights movement, homosexuals battle for the right to marry. This issue is affecting Americans on several levels.
Politically, gay marriage is one of the 'hot' issues that public officials are asked to take a position on. Legally, matters of jurisdiction have caused uncertainty on whether a couple of the same sex will be recognized should they decide to move. Socially, America is still in turmoil due to how strongly both the opposition and advocacy feel for their cause. This has resulted hate crimes and protest, which brings gay marriage to a personal level as well. This issue causes us to question our own morality, as well as what we perceive the impact will be on children and their views on sexuality and core values. Lastly, these issues ripple to the economic level, with the rising cost of court hearings, political action, and religious campaigning. For a near decade, states have been charged with considering each level of this issue, and it has resulted in extremely opposing outcomes.
The fourteenth amendment of the U.S. Constitution, section one states: “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States, nor shall any state deprive and person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, nor deny any person within its jurisdiction of equal protection of laws.” The interpretation of this amendment could be, and has been, us...
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The 14th Amendment was made in 1868 to allow every person who was born in America or who had become an American citizen to have the same rights as any other citizen. Additionally, they were also a citizen of whatever state they lived in. No state in America was allowed to make laws that limit US citizens’ rights and protection, execute people, imprison people or take their property away without a legal process.
1. Our great country was founded upon a high set of principles, values, and laws. Many of these are easily seen when looking at the United States constitution. The first ten amendments are what is commonly known as the Bill of Rights. This is good and all, but until the fourteenth amendment was passed, the Bill of Rights only was applied to the Federal government. The 14th amendment has a clause that says, "no state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States." The Supreme Court ruled against “Total Incorporation”, but instead ruled in favor of “Selective Incorporation”. This meaning that the Supreme Court would define the constitutionality of the treatment of a citizen by the state.
Abstract On June 26, 2015 a divided Supreme Court ruled in the landmark case Obergefell v. Hodges that same-sex couples could now marry nationwide. At the time of the split ruling there were 9 supreme court justices, 5 of the justices were Republicans, and the remaining 4 were Democrats. In high profile cases it is except that the justices will vote along party lines. When the 5-4 ruling was reveled by the following statement. “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 (Corn,2015).” written by
He continues to support the main claim by showing his knowledge of married couples’ legal rights. He explains that homosexual couples that are not allowed to marry are denied tax breaks, group insurance, and pension programs (Stoddard, 1988, p. 551). These are important grounds,...
The United States of America, as a whole, has pushed for rights and equality for any and all people. Gay rights and racial equality have received an ample amount of support as well as opposition. Even bringing up the other side’s argument may cause a debate in almost any environment. Today, Americans are easily offended by things that don’t agree with what they believe. America is full of passionate people who always have a cause to fight for or against. Gay marriage has been opposed countless times on local, state, and national levels. “Almost two- thirds of Republicans oppose the Supreme Court’s backing of gay marriage, according to Reuters/Ipsos Poll ” (Reuters). Even though another online survey stated that “more than half of Americans support it,” they still
It forbid the denial of life, liberty, and property without due process of law. On July 9th 1868, this amendment was ratified, and was directly used to prevent states from denying rights to the newly freed slaves. This new amendment declared that all former slaves were citizens of the United States, and were not to be denied of their birth rights. To put this into perspective, before the ratification of the fourteenth amendments former slaves were free in a sense, but were not considered citizens allowing people to take advantage of them, and is still a prevalent issue to this day. “By directly mentioning the role of the states, the 14th Amendment greatly expanded the protection of civil rights to all Americans and is cited in more litigation than any other amendment.”
The final clause of the first section of the fourteenth amendment explains, "nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." 2 The 1976 ruling of Gregg v....
... liberties so inflicting upon one and another from person to person seems like a useless loop. The government is supposed to provide for the people, and the Fourteenth Amendment is so universal that, even when written in 1860s, it has served as a cornerstone for some of the most significant cases in United States History.
Nagourney, Adam. "Court Strikes Down Ban on Gay Marriage in California." New York Times. N.p., 7 Feb. 2012. Web.
14th Amendment Right - No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
According to the U.S. constitution, fundamental rights hold a special significance under the Fifth and Fourteenth amendments. The Fourteenth amendment states that, “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without Due Process of law; nor deny to any person within its ju...
Famous children’s author Dr. Seuss once said, “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind". Gay rights, at the moment, are one of the most publicized and well known controversial subjects of this decade. The sides clearly drawn one fighting for rights as simple as being married the other stating that it defames their religion and goes against the definition of marriage, being between a man and a woman. The individuals who are fighting for their civil rights are fallowing the same path that African Americans and women have taken, but the change has started and in over 13 states gays have been given their basic rights and more state are joining in the fight both for and against the topic.
Throughout the recent history of America, gay marriage has always been an issue. With the different views and morals everyone has on the subject, it makes it hard for individual states to determine what side they should be on. In 1983 a Harvard Law School student, Evan Wolfson, wrote a thesis stating the rule of marriage equality. Justices concluded that gay couples were entitled to the legal benefits of civil marriage; and most crucially in the Supreme Judicial Court in Massachusetts, whose favorable ruling, in a suit by lawyer Mary Bonauto and the Boston-based Gay and Lesbian Advocated and Defenders, led to the nation’s first bona fide same-sex marriages…” (“Gay Marriage turns 10 and Credit Should Be Spread around- The Boston Globe). On May 17, 2004 Massachusetts became the first state to legalize gay marriages. In June of 2013, California legalized gay marriages, which helped their large LGBT (Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered) community. (“History and Timeline of the Freedom…”). When this finally happened, it was seen as a great achievement by Karmala Harris, a California Attorney. “This is a profound day in our country, and its just the right thing: ‘Justice is finally being served’” (“Court Gives OK for California Gay Marriages”).
Stoddard, T, Fein, B, (Jan. 1990) Gay Marriage, Personal relationships, Marriage, Legislation, Homosexuality, American Bar Association, (Pages 42, 42)
Gay rights have been a hot topic for the past few decades, but it has recently become one of the biggest issues in the United States and the world. Gay rights are human rights, and every country in the world that does not guarantee the same rights to gay citizens as they do to heterosexual citizens are committing crimes against humanity. The past few years states have slowly legalized gay marriage, essentally creating a ripple effect; ending 2014 with thirty seven states that had marriage equality ("50 States" 1). 2014 was an astounding year for equality, ...