Supreme Court considers gay marriage
Edith Windsor, 83, is mobbed by journalists and supporters as she leaves the Supreme Court on Wednesday. Windsor brought the case challenging the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)
Attorney Ted Olson, right, will argue for opponents of California’s Proposition 8. He was solicitor general for President George W. Bush and is former head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel in the Reagan administration. He is a prominent Supreme Court litigator, and has handled cases including Bush v. Gore, which he argued for George W. Bush after the presidential election in 2000, and the Citizens United case in 2010, in which the court overturned restrictions on corporate political spending. (Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)
Attorney Charles J. Cooper will argue for supporters of Prop. 8. He clerked for Supreme Court Justice William H. Rehnquist. He succeeded Ted Olson as head of the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Attorney Donald B. Verrilli Jr. will argue on behalf of the White House in opposing DOMA. He will also join in the arguments against Prop. 8. Verrilli, a graduate of Yale and Columbia Law School, clerked for Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan Jr. Verrilli went from private practice to the Justice Department in 2009 and became deputy counsel to the president in the White House in 2010. He was named solicitor general in 2011. Roberta Kaplan, not pictured, will also argue in opposition to DOMA, on behalf of a lesbian whose spouse died in 2009. She has been representing gay couples in New York attempting to marry or obtain federal benefits since at least 2006. (Mark Wilson / Getty Images)
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Paul Clement will argue for the House of Representatives in support of DOMA. An alumnus of Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and Harvard Law School, Clement clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia and succeeded Ted Olson as solicitor general in the George W. Bush administration. (Jeff Roberson / Associated Press)
Justice Anthony Kennedy is the likely swing vote on these issues on the court. He graduated from Stanford University and Harvard Law School. He was appointed by Gerald Ford to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and by Ronald Reagan to the Supreme Court in 1988. Kennedy has written two Supreme Court opinions favorable to gays. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)
