Real News': Same-Sex Marriage and the Constitution

The Supreme Court will decide Friday whether or not to take up a case that would settle the fate of same-sex marriage. There are a number of appellate cases being appealed to the highest court involving the Defense of Marriage Act, but the case they are likely to consider will involve California’s Prop 8, which banned same-sex marriage by a successful ballot initiative after the state already permitted it. Same-sex marriage, for the first time by statewide popular vote, was victorious at the ballot box this past November in Maine and Maryland. Public opinion polls show that a majority of Americans now support same-sex couples getting married, however, the margin is close and a sizable number of Americans--including the majority in many individual states--believe marriage should remain between a man and woman.

If the Court take the case, it will not be considering religious ideology or popular sentiment, but how the merits of same-sex marriage comply or conflict with the Constitution. On "Real News" Thursday the panel debated the ideological aspects and each side on whether or not same-sex marriage can be protected under the Constitution. Watch a clip below with Adam Freedman, author of "The Naked Constitution":