North Dakota Senate rejects resolution asking Supreme Court to reverse same-sex marriage ruling

The North Dakota Senate on Thursday rejected a resolution that would have asked the Supreme Court to revisit its landmark 2015 ruling on marriage equality.

Senators voted 31-16 against the resolution, introduced in January by Republican state Rep. Bill Tveit. It would have called on the Supreme Court to overturn its decision in Obergefell v. Hodges and “leave unaddressed the natural definition of marriage as a union between one man, a biological male, and one woman, a biological female.”

“It’s past time for the good citizens to speak their displeasure with this Supreme Court decision, and call for restoration of the definition of marriage as only of the legal union between a man and woman,” Tveit said while testifying in favor of the resolution in February.

“If same-sex couples desire a collaborative union of a sort, or a legal bonding, they must call it anything but marriage,” he said.

North Dakota state Rep. Austin Foss, a Democrat and one of three openly gay men in the state Legislature, said he never thought he and his husband, whom he married last year, would have to fight to be recognized as a married couple under the law.

“This hurts,” Foss said in February. “I don’t come into your church, into your home, and force you to relabel your relationship just because I don’t agree with it.”

The North Dakota House passed the measure Feb. 24 on a 52-40 vote, with 29 Republicans voting with all Democrats to reject it. State senators voted on the measure Thursday after just 10 minutes of debate.

In a statement following Thursday’s vote, Cody Schuler, advocacy manager for the American Civil Liberties Union of North Dakota, said rejecting the resolution “was the right thing to do.”

“We’re disappointed, however, that because of the blind vote, North Dakotans will not be able to see how their senators voted,” he said. “Advocating for the reversal of Obergefell v. Hodges disregards the progress made toward inclusivity and equal rights and undermines the pluralistic and inclusive fabric of our society, and our elected leaders need to be accountable to their constituents with their votes.”

“North Dakota has many real, complex problems that the legislature should be addressing. Our legislators shouldn’t be wasting time on toothless virtue-signaling,” Schuler said.

GOP lawmakers in at least four states this year have introduced resolutions that, if passed, would ask the Supreme Court to overturn its decision in Obergefell v. Hodges.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) publicly rebuked a similar effort by state House Republicans to request the court reverse the landmark ruling.

Nationwide, support for marriage equality remains high, though it dipped slightly last year driven in large part by opposition from Republicans, according to Gallup. A recent survey by the Public Religion Research Institute found that Americans in states where same-sex marriage would remain legal if Obergefell v. Hodges were overturned are more likely to support marriage equality than those in states where it would become illegal.

Topics

North Dakota Senate rejects resolution asking Supreme Court to overturn gay marriage ruling

The North Dakota Senate rejected a measure that would have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn its landmark 2015 ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
NBC News - 11h
North Dakota Legislature close to asking Supreme Court to undo landmark gay marriage ruling

North Dakota lawmakers are on the verge of making their state the first to tell the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn its decade-old ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
NBC News - 1d
Trump brings birthright citizenship argument to Supreme Court

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court for an emergency intervention Thursday limiting lower court rulings that are blocking President Trump's plans to restrict birthright citizenship. ...
The Hill - 1d
Trump asks Supreme Court to take up birthright citizenship plan

The Trump administration wants the Supreme Court to limit the scope of lower court rulings against his executive order that would end automatic birthright citizenship. NBC News' Lawrence Hurley ...
NBC News - 1d
Trump asks Supreme Court to intervene on blocks to his birthright citizenship order

The Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to significantly narrow nationwide injunctions blocking his order redefining birthright citizenship in the U.S.
ABC News - 10h
Trump asks Supreme Court to intervene in birthright citizenship cases

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to limit three lower court orders that blocked enforcement of his birthright citizenship executive order nationwide.
CBS News - 1d
Sununu on possible Senate bid: 'I have not ruled it out completely'

Former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) said he is considering running for Senate after previously rejecting the possibility. “I have not ruled it out completely, but folks in Washington have ...
The Hill - 2d
Trump takes his plan to end birthright citizenship to the Supreme Court

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to narrow nationwide injunctions that have blocked the president’s plan to end automatic birthright citizenship.
NBC News - 1d
Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Order Reaches the Supreme Court

Trump administration lawyers asked the justices to limit the sweep of decisions by three lower courts that issued nationwide pauses on the policy.
The New York Times - 1d
Supreme Court Rejects an Effort to Block States From Suing Oil Giants

The justices declined to hear unusual arguments from Republican-led states that sought to end lawsuits against energy companies over their role in global warming.
The New York Times - 4d
Aftershocks of Supreme Court’s Immunity Ruling Echo in New Trump Cases

The real legacy of the case, scholars say, is not its protection of former presidents from prosecution but its expansive understanding of presidential power.
The New York Times - 4d
SCOTUS rejects Republican-led effort to halt climate lawsuits in Dem-led states

The Supreme Court has rejected a lawsuit from Republican attorneys general in 19 states aimed at blocking climate change suits against the oil and gas industry from Democratic-led states
ABC News - 4d
‘Nothing like this in American history’: the crisis of Trump’s assault on the rule of law

Even if the supreme court were to resist the president’s onslaught, it has little means to enforce its decisions. When the chief justice of the US supreme court , John Roberts, delivered his ...
The Guardian - 5d
Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates to square off

Candidates in a race that will determine ideological control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court will square off in their only scheduled debate before the April 1 election
ABC News - 2d
Supreme Court justice's sister receives bomb threat at her home: Police

The sister of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett was targeted with a bomb threat on March 8, according to the Charleston Police Department.
ABC News - 1d
Supreme Court takes up case over Colorado "conversion therapy" ban for minors

The dispute will be heard by the Supreme Court in its next term, which begins in October.
CBS News - 4d
Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates to debate about Trump, Musk and key issues

A closely watched Wisconsin Supreme Court election takes center stage as Republican-backed Brad Schimel and Democratic-backed Susan Crawford are set to debate.
ABC News - 2d
Brad Schimel, a Trump Loyalist, Aims to Flip Wisconsin’s Supreme Court

Brad Schimel, a judge who is so supportive of the president that he dressed up as him for Halloween, is hoping to flip the Wisconsin Supreme Court for conservatives.
The New York Times - 1d
5 takeaways from the feisty Wisconsin Supreme Court debate

Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates Susan Crawford and Brad Schimel traded barbs and defended their track records on Wednesday night during their only debate for an open seat on the high court. ...
The Hill - 1d
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejects talks with the U.S.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said talks between the two countries would be aimed at imposing restrictions on Iranian missile range and its influence in the region.
CBS News - 6d
Blue State Lawsuits Against Oil Companies Can Move Forward

Blue states are suing Exxon Mobil and other oil companies. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a bid by red states to block the suits.
Inc. - 4d
Supreme Court takes up Colorado conversion therapy case

The Supreme Court granted a Colorado therapist’s request to review her challenge to a state law banning mental health care providers from engaging minors in conversion therapy, a discredited ...
The Hill - 4d
Elon Musk, George Soros eye Wisconsin Supreme Court race

The Wisconsin Supreme Court race has quickly become a battle of many billionaires, with the ideologically conservative candidate backed by a PAC connected to Elon Musk and the ideologically liberal ...
CBS News - 3d
Trump says Supreme Court justices 'get weak' in lambasting unfavorable coverage

President Trump on Friday lamented that Supreme Court Justices “can’t really fight back” and “get weak” in the face of unfavorable media coverage as he railed against what he framed as "horrible" ...
The Hill - 3h
Schumer calls for vote on new continuing resolution to avoid government shutdown

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says Republican senators don't have the votes to pass the GOP spending bill that was approved by the House and is instead pushing for a vote on a separate ...
CBS News - 1d
Canadian man sentenced to prison for destroying energy facilities in Dakotas

Cameron Monte Smith, 50, a Canadian citizen, was sentenced to U.S. prison for destroying two energy facilities in North and South Dakota. Smith was sentenced to 25 years in prison and ordered to ...
The Hill - 3d
Iranian leader rejects Trump’s push for nuclear talks

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected President Trump’s push for nuclear deal talks between the two nations, arguing the initiative is only a gateway for Washington to impose new ...
The Hill - 6d
With mass rehirings ordered and a plea to the Supreme Court, Trump's court fights scale new heights

The scale of the Trump administration's legal battles expanded this week, with a federal judge ordering the government to rehire potentially thousands of probationary workers and the administration ...
NBC News - 7h
In Wisconsin's Supreme Court race, both sides take aim at the other's billionaire backers

The Wisconsin Supreme Court contest is shaping up to be a battle of billionaires, with each side in the race casting the other’s most prominent donors as boogeymen.
NBC News - 6d
Supreme Court takes up free speech challenge to conversion therapy bans aimed at LGBTQ youth

The Supreme Court agreed to hear a challenge to law in Colorado that bans “conversion therapy” aimed at teens questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity.
NBC News - 4d
Supreme Court to take up bans on conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ kids, in Colorado case

The Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether state and local governments can enforce laws banning conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ children, in a Colorado case
ABC News - 4d
Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates spar on abortion law, Musk, Trump during debate

Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates Brad Schimel and Susan Crawford sparred over abortion law, as well as Elon Musk, during a debate.
ABC News - 1d
Democrats eager for Cooper Senate bid in North Carolina

Democrats are eager to see former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) jump into the Tar Heel State’s Senate race next year, seeing him as the most formidable challenger to Sen. Thom Tillis (R). ...
The Hill - 3d
Gene Hackman's estate asks court to block the release of police images and videos

The estate of actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, who were found dead at their New Mexico ranch last month, has asked a court to stop sensitive images from the investigation into the ...
NBC News - 14h
Why Schumer says he will vote to pass a Republican-led government funding resolution

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says he will vote to pass a Republican-led government funding resolution. CBS News' Caitlin Huey-Burns has more on his reasoning.
CBS News - 7h
Unions ask court to stop DOGE from accessing Social Security data of millions of Americans

A group of labor unions asked a federal court for an emergency order to stop DOGE from accessing sensitive Social Security data.
NBC News - 6d
Senate Democrats say they will reject GOP's funding bill as shutdown draws near

After meeting with his conference, the Senate minority leader said "Republicans do not have the votes" to advance the House-approved measure, which requires 60 to pass.
NBC News - 2d
Romanian court rejects appeal by far-right politician to lift candidacy ban

Călin Georgescu, a Russia-friendly populist, won first round of election before result was annulled . Europe live – latest updates Romania’s top court has upheld a decision to ban presidential ...
The Guardian - 3d
Iran’s top leader rejects talks with the US over missile range, regional influence

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says he rejects a U.S. push for talks between the two countries because they would be aimed at imposing restrictions on Iranian missile range and its ...
ABC News - 6d