As William Eskridge and coauthor, Christopher Riano, argue in their new book, Marriage Equality: From Outlaws to In‐​Laws, the Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges requiring states to recognize same‐​sex marriages came faster and with broader public support than anyone would have thought possible in 2001. This book tells the inside story of the judicial deliberations in marriage equality cases but also defends these decisions from the perspective of the original public meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment, constitutional precedents, the institution of marriage itself, and even sincere and learned analyses of scripture. The authors conclude with three chapters about the contours of ongoing debates about religious liberty, the relationship options that states ought to recognize, and abortion. Watch the event for this discussion of such a pivotal Supreme Court decision.

State and local officials have broad power to govern for public health and safety, but there are limits—for example, on the powers themselves and who exercises them. State law typically spells out what can be done, which part of the executive branch can do it, when the legislature needs to be involved, and how long any orders can last. Another limit is the government’s need to justify any restriction on basic liberties, whether to travel, to practice religion, to earn a living, or the myriad other ways people pursue their vision of the good life. In this issue of our Pandemics and Policy series, Cato scholar Ilya Shapiro explains how far government can constitutionally go in fighting COVID-19.