The U.S. Supreme Court heard two and a half hours of oral arguments this morning in several cases related to same-sex marriage rights, collectively called Obergefell v. Hodges. This thread is for any relevant comments or speculation.

April 27 marked six years since LGBT couples were able to obtain marriage licenses in Iowa under our state Supreme Court’s Varnum v Brien ruling. Bleeding Heartland recently compiled some links related to the marriage equality battle in Iowa.

Non-lawyers will appreciate Amy Howe’s backgrounder in plain English on the cases before the Supreme Court.

Lyle Denniston previewed the “decisive questions” raised by these cases.

David S. Cohen and Leonore Carpenter pointed to some key phrases and legal concepts that might hint at the justices’ leanings during the oral arguments.

The SCOTUSblog compiled links related to the cases, including briefs filed on both sides. The nine justices will consider two questions:

1) Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex? 2) Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-state?

Full transcripts of the oral arguments are available on the Supreme Court’s website: question 1 and question 2.

Nina Totenberg of National Public Radio and SCOTUSblog’s Tom Goldstein discussed the highlights from the oral arguments in this short video.

Mark Walsh’s “view from the courtroom” was an entertaining read.

Chief Justice John Roberts, considered beforehand a possible swing vote in this case, didn’t come across as sympathetic to marriage equality during the oral arguments.

Lyle Denniston focused on signals coming from Justice Anthony Kennedy today. Most observers expect him to be the fifth vote deciding the cases one way or the other.