Supreme Court Justices Hear Arguments On California Gay Marriage Ban

A lawyer seeking an end to California's ban on same-sex marriage is comparing it to bans on interracial marriages, a prohibition the Supreme Court declared illegal decades ago.

In charged back-and-forth exchanges with justices, lawyer Theodore Olson said that the court should look to its 1967 Loving case, when the court invalidated laws prohibiting interracial marriage.

Chief Justice John Roberts told Olson that it seemed supporters of gay marriage were trying to change the meaning of the word "marriage" by including same-sex couples.

Justice Anthony Kennedy suggested that throwing out California's ban could take the Supreme Court into "uncharted waters." But Olson responded that the court did just that when it threw out bans on interracial marriage.

Justice will make a decision later this year.

The case is Hollingsworth v. Perry, 12-144.