Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/14pdf/14-556_3204.pdf
Page Number: 11

6 

OBERGEFELL v. HODGES 

Opinion of the Court 

settled in Tennessee, where DeKoe works full-time for the 
Army  Reserve.    Their  lawful  marriage  is  stripped  from
them  whenever  they  reside  in  Tennessee,  returning  and 
disappearing as they travel across state lines.  DeKoe, who 
served  this  Nation  to  preserve  the  freedom  the  Constitu-
tion protects, must endure a substantial burden.

The cases now before the Court involve other petitioners 
as  well,  each  with  their  own  experiences.    Their  stories 
reveal that they seek not to denigrate marriage but rather
to  live  their  lives,  or  honor  their  spouses’  memory,  joined
by its bond. 

B 

The  ancient  origins  of  marriage  confirm  its  centrality, 
but it has not stood in isolation from developments in law 
and society.  The history of marriage is one of both conti-
nuity  and  change.  That  institution—even  as  confined  to 
opposite-sex relations—has evolved over time. 

For example, marriage was once viewed as an arrange-
ment  by  the  couple’s  parents  based  on  political,  religious, 
and  financial  concerns;  but  by  the  time  of  the  Nation’s 
founding  it  was  understood  to  be  a  voluntary  contract 
between a man and a woman.  See N. Cott, Public Vows: A 
History  of  Marriage  and  the  Nation  9–17  (2000);  S. 
Coontz, Marriage, A History 15–16 (2005).  As the role and 
status  of  women  changed,  the  institution  further  evolved. 
Under  the  centuries-old  doctrine  of  coverture,  a  married 
man  and  woman  were  treated  by  the  State  as  a  single, 
male-dominated  legal  entity.    See  1  W.  Blackstone,  Com-
mentaries on the Laws of England 430 (1765).  As women 
gained legal, political, and property rights, and as society
began  to  understand  that  women  have  their  own  equal
dignity, the law of coverture was abandoned.  See Brief for 
Historians of Marriage et al. as Amici Curiae 16–19.  These 
and  other  developments  in  the  institution  of  marriage  over
the  past  centuries  were  not  mere  superficial  changes.