Sen Ted Cruz Says SCOTUS Marriage Ruling Only Affects Four States

Sen. Ted Cruz erroneously says the recently SCOTUS ruling on marriage only applies to four states.

From Politico:

“Those who are not parties to the suit are not bound by it,” the Texas Republican told NPR News’ Steve Inskeep in an interview published on Monday.

Since only suits against the states of Ohio, Tennessee, Michigan and Kentucky were specifically considered in the Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges decision, which was handed down last Friday, Cruz — a former Supreme Court clerk — believes that other states with gay marriage bans need not comply, absent a judicial order.

“On a great many issues, others have largely acquiesced, even if they were not parties to the case,” the 2016 presidential contender added, “but there’s no legal obligation to acquiesce to anything other than a court judgement.”

While Cruz’s statement may be technically true, federal district and circuit courts are obligated to follow the Supreme Court’s precedent and overrule all other states’ same-sex marriage bans as unconstitutional.

Clearly Ted Cruz has no firm grasp of legal precedent.

While the decision on same-sex marriage addressed four states, that ruling becomes controlling precedent for all other courts to follow on the issue from here on forward.

If Cruz wants to force gay and lesbian couples to go through the time and expense to file lawsuits which WILL end up with a judgement in favor of same-sex marriage, he can I guess. But the result will be the same whether states go through the lawsuits or not. At the end of the day, any judge will have to cite the SCOTUS ruling and marriage equality will prevail.

Period.