Ask Lambda Legal: Marriage Cases at the Supreme Court

Q: I want to be standing at the U.S. Supreme Court when they rule on the marriage cases. How can I find out when the ruling is expected to come down?

A: We are all very excited for the day when the Court will issue its decisions in the DOMA and Prop 8 cases, and many are wondering when exactly the rulings will come. As much as we would all love to have a heads-up, the Court does not give prior notice of which opinions will come on which day.

Having had our share of Supreme Court cases, we can assure you that no one gets advance notice from the Court—not even the lawyers who argued. So far, every Monday in June is a possible decision day. Sometimes the Court may add more days to their calendar. For example, just recently the Court added June 13 as a day when decisions may be issued.

If you are interested in being at the Court when the decisions are issued, the only way to be certain not to miss out is to make sure to be at the Court each possible decision day. There will be more speculation as the month progresses about which decisions are coming when, but the only day we'll know which decisions to expect will be the last day that decisions are issued, and that will be only based on a process of elimination (since all the other cases that the Court heard this term will have been released earlier in the month).

Here’s everything you need to know about the marriage cases at the Supreme Court.

And here’s a handy infographic that explains how the Court might rule in each case.