a. Does the Constitution explicitly provide for that authority? If so, where in the Constitution is it so provided? If not, why does the Supreme Court have the power to strike down statutes passed by Congress as unconstitutional? Should it have that power? Why or why not?

b. In 1967, in the case of Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967) the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional a Virginia statute that prohibited whites and African-Americans from marrying on due process and equal protection grounds stating, "Marriage is one of the basic civil rights of man, fundamental to our very existence and survival. To deny this fundamental freedom on so unsupportable a basis as racial classifications embodied in these statutes, classifications so directly subversive to the principle of equality at the heart of the Fourteenth Amendment, is surely to deprive all the State's citizens of liberty without due process of law".

c. In June of 2015, citing the Loving case as relevant precedent, the Supreme Court held in the case of Obergefell, et al. v. Hodges, et al. that States cannot prohibit same-sex couples from marrying. The opinion can be found under "Course Resources" and "Links to cases and Resources"

Do you believe each State should be able to decide whether same-sex couples can marry within their respective States or do you agree with the Supreme Court? Do you believe denying same-sex couples the ability to marry violates their constitutional rights of due process and equal protection? Why or why not?