In the underlying suit, James Obergefell sued when Ohio refused to recognize his marriage to John Arthur, who died in 2013.
Justice Kennedy wrote the majority opinion in the 5-4 decision, joined by Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan. Justice Kennedy wrote, "No longer may this liberty be denied.” He concluded, “No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were.”
In his dissent, Chief Justice Roberts wrote that the Constitution had nothing to say on the subject of same-sex marriage: “. . . by all means celebrate today’s decision. . . But do not celebrate the Constitution. It had nothing to do with it.” Also in dissent, Justice Scalia mocked the language of Justice Kennedy's majority opinion, “Of course the opinion’s showy profundities are often profoundly incoherent.”