Read the case of Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. ____(2015), and write a 4–5-page paper addressing the following:

1. Summarize the plaintiffs’ arguments that their substantive due process had been violated. 
2. Summarize the plaintiffs’ argument that their rights to equal protection under the law had been violated.  
3. Explain the Court’s ruling and any prior U.S. Supreme Court cases that may have laid the foundation for this case.  
4. Explain what societal changes influenced the Court’s decisions from the time of the 1986 Bowers v. Hardwick, 478 U.S. 186 (1986) case, in which the Court upheld a Georgia statute that criminalized homosexual sex, to Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003), that overruled Bowers, to the 2015 Obergefell case that recognized same-sex marriage. 
5. Summarize why the dissenting justices disagreed with the majority opinion in Obergefell.  
6. Do you agree with the majority opinion or the dissenting justices? Explain why.

References

Oyez. (n.d.a). Bowers v. Hardwick. https://www.oyez.org/cases/1985/85-140

Oyez. (n.d.b). Lawrence v. Texas. https://www.oyez.org/cases/2002/02-102

Oyez. (n.d.c). Obergefell v. Hodges. https://www.oyez.org/cases/2014/14-556

Your assignment will be graded in accordance with the following criteria. View the grading rubric.