Supreme Judicial Court Rules That Exclusion of Same-Sex Couples from Marriage Violates the Massachusetts Constitution: Ruling Likely to Have Far-Reaching Impact on Employment Laws

In a landmark 4-3 opinion, which the Supreme Judicial Court acknowledged "marks a change in the history of [Massachusetts] marriage law," Massachusetts' highest court ruled that same-sex couples cannot be barred from entering into civil marriages. Construing the Massachusetts statute governing licensing for marriage as excluding same-sex couples, the court found that state action barring same-sex couples from civil marriages violates the Massachusetts constitution. The court reformulated civil marriage under the statute to include the voluntary union of two persons as spouses, to the exclusion of all others. The court also stayed its judgment for 180 days to "permit the Legislature to take such action as it may deem appropriate." Based on the court's ruling, only a constitutional amendment could preclude same-sex marriages in the Commonwealth. Such an amendment would likely take several years to pass.