As arguments near, Justice Ginsburg has already made up her mind on gay marriage

https://www.yahoo.com/politics/as-arguments-near-justice-ginsburg-has-already-117280631046.html

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the West conference room at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post via Getty)

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the 82-year-old leader of the Supreme Court’s minority liberal wing, has cast aside her usual restraint in the past months and left little doubt where she stands on the upcoming gay marriage case.

The Supreme Court hears arguments in the case, Obergefell v. Hodges, on Tuesday, and will most likely announce in June whether states will still be allowed to ban same-sex marriage and refuse to recognize the rights of couples married in other states.

Ginsburg, a former civil rights lawyer, has been uncharacteristically outspoken in advance of one of the most significant civil rights decisions in decades. In August, she became the first Supreme Court justice to officiate at a same-sex wedding. Since then, she’s highlighted the big shift in public opinion on gay marriage in interviews and public speeches, breaking from her usual reticence when it comes to talking about upcoming cases. In February, Ginsburg told Bloomberg that it “would not take a large adjustment” for Americans to accept nationwide marriage equality, given the “enormous” change in people’s attitudes about same-sex marriage. New York Times columnist Gail Collins wrote in January that Ginsburg has a “strong hunch” about the way the case will turn out. “I would be very surprised if the Supreme Court retreats from what it has said about same-sex unions,” Ginsburg told Collins, referencing the 2012 decision that found the federal government must recognize same-sex marriages.

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