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It's not certain the justices will decide they should rule on the Defense of Marriage Act's constitutionality. But if they do, it looks as though Justice Anthony Kennedy might join the court's four "liberal" judges to strike down the law.

The Supreme Court hears arguments Wednesday on the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, which denies federal recognition and benefits for same-sex couples. The case involves a woman charged a hefty estate tax when her spouse died, which she would not have owed if her spouse had been a man.

At oral arguments on the constitutionality of California's law banning same-sex marriage, the justices parried over the history of the institution of marriage. They also debated an essential question: Should the case be in the Supreme Court at all?

Mara Liasson joins talks to Audie Cornish about the politics of Tuesday's court argument on gay marriage. Public opinion has shifted rapidly in favor on the issue, and the Supreme Court decision this summer on whether states can ban same-sex marriage and whether federal benefits should flow to same sex partners promise to roil the water again.

The Supreme Court began a two-day legal test of gay marriage laws on Tuesday, and the questions asked by some of the justices suggested they did not think the California ban on same-sex marriage belonged in their court.

Five key areas of discussion in Tuesday's Supreme Court oral arguments on the constitutionality of California's Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in the state.

As oral arguments were held Tuesday in the first of two same-sex-marriage cases inside the Supreme Court, the steps and sidewalks outside were transformed into a public forum of sorts on the issue.

NPR is covering the historic Supreme Court hearings on same-sex marriage via Twitter as well as our news site and on the air.

The justices began two days of high-profile oral arguments with many questions about whether they should even consider ruling on the merits of California's Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in that state.

Two days of historic arguments begin in cases on Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act. How the justices rule, says lawyer and Supreme Court expert Tom Goldstein, will be foundational decisions likely to be cited for hundreds of years.