Minnesota governor signs same-sex marriage bill into law News
Minnesota governor signs same-sex marriage bill into law
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[JURIST] Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton [official website] on Tuesday signed a bill [HF 1054 materials] into law making the state the twelfth to legalize same-sex marriage [JURIST backgrounder]. The bill was given final approval [JURIST report] in the Senate [official website] Monday after being approved [JURIST report] by the House of Representatives last week. At a signing ceremony on the steps of the Capitol, Dayton hailed the legislation [Seattle PI report] as an “extraordinary victory” for equal rights. The legislation is set to take effect August 1.

Earlier in May, both Delaware and Rhode Island [JURIST reports] approved same-sex marriage legislation. In March the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two same-sex marriage cases. The first case, Hollingsworth v. Perry [JURIST report], examines the validity of Proposition 8 [JURIST news archive], a California referendum that revoked same-sex marriage rights. In the second case, United States v. Windsor [JURIST report], the court will examine the constitutionality of Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) [text; JURIST news archive]. The court granted certiorari [JURIST report] in the two cases in December. Both cases could have an important impact on the ongoing same-sex marriage controversy in the US.