By 4-2, the court held that the state constitution does not compel the recognition of same-sex marriages. The matter, said the court, is for the state legislature to decide. It is the first state high court to address the substance of a gay-marriage claim since the Massachusetts decision in 2003.
The ruling, coming from a fairly progressive court in a deep-blue state, has to be considered a significant set-back for gay-marriage litigants. At the same time, it undermines further the arguments of those who have claimed that a federal marriage amendment is needed to block activist courts from imposing gay marriage on the nation. Now we await decisions from high courts in New Jersey and Washington.
More on the substance of the opinion after I have a chance to read it.