The Supreme Court will consider the much anticipated same-sex marriage cases in an unusually long oral argument April 28.
And, in a nod to the early 21st century, the court announced Thursday that the audiotape from the two-and-a-half hour argument will be made available the same day.
“The Court will post the audio recording and unofficial transcript as soon as the digital files are available for uploading to the Website. The audio recording and transcript should be available no later than 2 p.m. on April 28,” the court said in a release.
The decision to make same-day audio available for the same-sex marriage cases contrasts with a refusal to make same-day audio available for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act challenge heard Wednesday. The health-care law case audio will stroll into the public domain Friday.
The April 28 argument will focus on two questions and four cases. The challenges to laws in Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio and Michigan require justices to determine:
Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex?
Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-state?