By a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Justice Anthony Kennedy issued the opinion, and was joined by Justices Breyer, Ginsburg, Kagan and Sotomayor.
The Court also declined (in a 5-4 decision) to address a federal court’s reversal of Proposition 8 in California, which clears the way for same-sex marriages in California to be legally solemnized. That decision was issued by Chief Justice John Roberts, joined by Justices Scalia, Ginsburg, Breyer and Kagan.