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Justice Ginsburg Predicts Gay Marriage Question Headed To High Court

Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
J. Scott Applewhite
/
AP
Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg made a bit of news during an appearance at the University of Colorado, yesterday. When she was asked a question about the issue of gay marriage, she smiled and declined to answer, the AP reports. She said the issue is likely to come up before the court, so she couldn't adress it.

"I think it's most likely that we will have that issue before the court toward the end of the current term," she said.

In a lot of ways this doesn't come as a huge surprise. As the AP notes, the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as a union between one man and one woman, was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996.

Since then it's been challenged and declared unconstitutional by a federal judge in New York. Right now, it is "awaiting arguments before the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Those oral arguments are scheduled for Sept. 27."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.