| Since the end of the 20 th century,supporters of same-sex marriage began to promote the issue of same-sex marriage into the judicial process of the Federal Supreme Court.The Supreme Court abolished the sodomy law through the application of the substantive due process clause in the process of legalization of same-sex marriage and grant Same-sex couples the right to marry in every state.While great changes was made by the Supreme Court in the methodology of the application of the substantive due process clause.The result of the change is that through the same-sex marriage judgment,the Supreme Court has reconstructed an analysis method of applying substantive due process clauses in the field of protecting fundamental rights.The particularity of the same-sex marriage problem,the change of the Federal Supreme Court’s role in the political structure of the United States,and the personal ideas of Justice Kennedy who wrote the judgments in Lawrence v.Texas and Obergefell v.Hodges are the reasons of this new methodology.This new analysis methodology still plays an important role after Obergefell,but there are also disputes about this methodology.This article includes four parts.The first chapter is divided into two parts.In the first part,the article reviews the resource of the substantive due process clause and the history of the Fourteenth Amendment,and analyzes the concept of substantive due process clause.Then the article analyzes the history of the application of substantive due process clauses in the United States,and discusses the analysis methodology of substantive due process clauses through the introduction of United States v.Caroline Products Company and Washington v.Glucksberg.The conclusion of this part is that the significance of substantive due process clause lies in giving the court the power to review the laws formulated and implemented in accordance with the legal procedures.The application of substantive due process clause forms a traditional analysis methodology through a series of precedents after it turns to the field of protecting the fundamental rights.In the second part of this chapter,the article illustrates the situation of same-sex marriage in the United States and the reason why the supporters of same-sex marriage seek judicial means to complete the legalization of same-sex marriage.In this part,the article also analyzes the judgment of Bowers v.Hardwick.The conclusion of this part is that under the traditional analysis methodology of substantive due process clauses,the same-sex rights are hardly protected by the constitution.In Chapter Two,the article mainly discusses the judgment of Lawrence v.Texas,in which the Supreme Court abolished the sodomy law through the application of the substantive due process clause.The methodology of the application of the substantive due process clause in this case is quite different from the traditional methodology in the analysis basis,the burden of proof and the intrest protected by the clause.The conclusion of this chapter is that in Lawrence,the Supreme Court broke the traditional methodology of the application of the substantive due process.In Chapter Three,the article discusses the judgment of Obergefell v.Hodges,in which the Supreme Court recognized the right of same-sex partners to enter into marriage in the states where the same-sex marriage is illegal through the substantive due process clause.The conclusion is that the judgment redefined the analysis basis of the application of the substantive due process clause,completely changed the principle of "careful interpretation",and expanded the liberty protected by substantive due process clause.By these means,the Supreme Court recontructed the methodology.In Chapter Four,the article mainly analyzes the reasons why the Supreme Court found a new methodology of application of the substantive due process clause in cases regarding tot he same-sex the impact of this new methodology.The particularity of same-sex marriage,the change of American political situation and the personal idea of justice Kennedy are the reasons.This new methodology also continued to play an important role after Obergefell.While the conservatives has become the majority in the Supreme Court,the future of the new methodology is uncertain. |
