Supreme Court Sets Opening Arguments for Gay Marriage on April 28

Rebecca Bellecci Thursday, March 05, 2015

Supporters of same-sex marriage gather outside the Finnish Parliament in Helsinki November 28, 2014. | (Photo: Reuters/Mikko Stig)

The Supreme Court has set a date of April 28 for opening arguments regarding the constitutionality of state bans on same-sex marriage.

The highest court in the nation announced this week that it will begin oral arguments in late April to determine whether it is constitutional for states to ban same-sex marriage. According to Reuters, the justices will allow extended 2 ½ hour arguments in relation to same-sex marriage bans in Tennessee, Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky.

Groups supporting the legalization of same-sex marriage have scrambled to submit their friend-of-the-court briefs before the Thursday deadline.

Major corporations including Johnson & Johnson, Google Inc, American Airlines Group Inc have signed friend-of-the-court briefs in support of determining that it is unconstutional for states to ban same-sex marriage.

"Allowing same-sex couples to marry improves employee morale and productivity, reduces uncertainty, and removes the wasteful administrative burdens imposed by the current disparity of state law treatment," the brief reads.

Those opposing the lifting of same-sex marriage bans still have several more weeks before their friend-of-the-court briefs are due. Attorneys representing Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee are expected to submit their briefs in the coming weeks.

As the U.S. Supreme Court announced plans for opening arguments, Alabama's Supreme Court ordered probate judges to stop issuing same-sex marriage licenses in the state on Tuesday.

"Traditional-marriage laws do not discriminate based on gender: All men and all women are equally entitled to enter the institution of marriage," the justices wrote. "Only by redefining the term 'marriage' to mean something it is not (and in the process assuming an answer as part of the question), can this statement be challenged. Put in the negative, traditional-marriage laws do not discriminate on the basis of gender because all men and all women are equally restricted to marriage between the opposite sexes. "