March 26, 2013 12:05PM 

# More from Cato Scholars on the Marriage Cases 

By [Walter Olson](https://www.cato.org/people/walter-olson) 

---

<a class="js-popover-trigger cursor-pointer popover-trigger" data-bs-placement="bottom" data-bs-trigger="click" id="popover-trigger"> 

SHARE 

</a> 

This morning the Supreme Court hears oral argument in *Hollingsworth v. Perry*, the Prop 8 case, previewed in this space [yesterday](https://www.cato.org/blog/same-sex-marriage-supreme-court-scorecard) and the topic of much past [attention](https://www.cato.org/blog/same-sex-marriage-some-cato-resources) at Cato. Over the past 48 hours Cato scholars and friends have been writing up a storm:

- An editorial in the *Wall Street Journal* contends that the issue should be left to the political process. In response, Cato constitutional studies director Roger Pilon [says the *Journal*](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/roger-pilon/the-journal-led-astray_b_2951559.html) goes fundamentally astray on (among other things) whether the Equal Protection Clause was meant to apply only to some short list of “protected classes,” and whether the Perry and Windsor cases resemble Roe v. Wade (they don’t).
- At *Reason*, Cato’s Ilya Shapiro [debates](http://reason.com/archives/2013/03/25/gay-marriage-and-states-rights) Jonathan Adler on whether federalism provides a useful organizing concept for the issue. Plenty of debate on that topic at *[Volokh Conspiracy](http://www.volokh.com/)*.
- In articles at [Hoover’s *Defining Ideas*](http://www.hoover.org/publications/defining-ideas/article/143166) and [Ricochet](http://ricochet.com/main-feed/The-Strange-Alliances-Around-the-Gay-Marriage-Cases), Cato adjunct scholar Richard Epstein explains why he finds originalism in tension with liberty on the issue, and has some advice for Justice Anthony Kennedy.
- Last chance to [register](https://www.cato.org/events/law-politics-same-sex-marriage) for Cato’s all-star panel tomorrow with former Republican National Committee head Ken Mehlman ([NPR profile](http://www.npr.org/2013/03/24/174982423/former-bush-aide-pushes-conservative-case-for-gay-marriage?ft=1&f=1014)), Freedom to Marry founder Evan Wolfson (BuzzFeed [profile](http://www.buzzfeed.com/chrisgeidner/the-lawyer-and-writer-who-made-marriage-equality-happen)), and Cato’s [Ilya Shapiro](https://americasfuture.org/freethefuture/2012/10/08/profile-in-liberty-ilya-shapiro/) (AFF [profile](https://americasfuture.org/freethefuture/2012/10/08/profile-in-liberty-ilya-shapiro/)). You can also watch live online [here](https://www.cato.org/live), and comment on Twitter at hashtag [\#CatoEvents](https://twitter.com/search?q=%23CatoEvents).
- I’ve got another [roundup](http://overlawyered.com/2013/03/supreme-court-marriage-cases-week-ahead/) at *Overlawyered* noting tomorrow’s panel and other upcoming events, and summarizing a panel on related issues held at Cato last week; I also note the paradox in one recent poll in which a non-trivial number of participants took the view both that same-sex marriage is a right under the U.S. constitution, and that states should be left to go their own ways on whether to recognize it.

##### Related Tags 

[Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) 

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).