WASHINGTON (AP) – Justice Anthony Kennedy left little doubt during Supreme Court arguments in 2013 that a part of the federal anti-gay marriage law was doomed.
The 78-year-old Kennedy’s comments were less clear-cut and his potentially decisive vote less certain when the justices heard arguments Tuesday in a broader case about the right of same-sex couples to marry anywhere in the United States.
He left people on both sides of the issue with hopes and fears about the outcome in the landmark civil rights case, although Kennedy’s track record as the author of the court’s three earlier rulings in favor of gay rights probably gives same-sex marriage supporters less to fear.