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MARGARET WARNER (Newshour): The justices agreed to hear arguments in two cases.
One is California's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, adopted by voters as referendum Proposition 8 in 2008. It was challenged on grounds that gay citizens have the same constitutional right to marry as heterosexuals. The justices will also review a provision of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA.
That deprives legally married gay couples of federal benefits that are available to heterosexual couples.
Same-sex marriage is legal or will be soon in nine states and the District of Columbia. But 31 other states have amended their constitutions to bar gay unions.
Here with us to explain today's decisions and where they could lead is Marcia Coyle of The National Law Journal.
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