April 10, 2009
Kenji Yoshino, Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law, has been a sought-after legal commentator in the past week on the issue of same-sex marriage, following the Iowa Supreme Court's unanimous decision on April 3 giving same-sex couples the right to wed and the Vermont legislature's passage on April 7 of a same-sex marriage bill over the governor's veto. Yoshino wrote a piece on his reaction to the Iowa decision for the New York Times Web site on April 3, and appeared on NPR's Tell Me More on April 10 as part of a segment on same-sex marriage.
Yoshino also made time this week for a podcast interview with Atticus Gannaway, the Law School magazine's senior writer. Yoshino took the opportunity to discuss in greater depth the nature of recent developments on same-sex marriage, and his thoughts on what the future might hold as states reexamine the question of who can be married to whom.
Among the questions Yoshino tackles: What has brought same-sex marriage into the legal zeitgeist? What distinguishes the Iowa court's decision from previous judicial rulings allowing same-sex marriage in California, Connecticut, and Massachusetts? What about the upcoming federal case concerning the Defense of Marriage Act? And when will we reach a tipping point in the legal battle over same-sex marriage?