POLSC401: Ethics and Public Policy

6.1: Marriage and Other Consensual Adult Relationships

• U.S. Supreme Court: "Loving v. Virginia (1967)" URL

  Read Justice Warren's opinion of the Loving v. Virginia case about granting marriages based on racial classifications.
  

• U.S. Supreme Court: "Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003)" URL

  Read Justice Kennedy's opinion on the Lawrence v. Texas case about whether same-sex intimate acts should be illegal.

• Alison M. Smith's "Same-Sex Marriages: Legal Issues" URL

  Read this report.

• Goodridge v. Department of Public Health (2003) URL

  Read C.J. Marshall's opinion on the Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, tried at the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

• ProCon.org: "Should Gay Marriage be Legal?" URL

  Read this article and the linked questions pertaining to the legality of gay marriage.

• Harvard University: Michael Sandel's "Debating Same-Sex Marriage/The Good Life" Page

  Watch this video.

• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: John Christman's "Autonomy in Moral and Political Philosophy" URL

  Read this article on the concept of autonomy in philosophy and politics.