Washington ( CNN ) -- The one-sentence order from the U.S. Supreme Court was brief but emphatic . The year was 1972 and the justices were asked to decide something extraordinary in that era : whether an openly gay couple from Minnesota had a `` fundamental right '' under the Constitution to legally wed . In just 13 words , the court under Chief Justice Warren Burger dismissed the Baker v. Nelson petition , `` for want of a substantial federal question . '' For about four decades that was the final word on the issue , at least legally . Now a generational shift in public acceptance has given same-sex marriage a powerful new voice . Judges around the country -- in state and federal courts -- have spoken with a near unanimity over the past year that millions of gays and lesbians have been denied an equal protection right to tie the knot , or to have their legal unions recognized by their home states . Opinion : Marriage equality is not like abortion . The public debate is back at the nation 's highest court , with the justices being asked to offer a fresh , definitive , and binding ruling . The court next week will return from its summer recess and meet privately to consider appeals originating from same-sex couples in five states : Utah , Oklahoma , Virginia , Wisconsin and Indiana . If one or more of those petitions are accepted now for review , oral arguments would likely be held early next year , with a monumental opinion expected by late June 2015 . `` The question of whether same-sex marriage bans are constitutional is a historic issue , under the Constitution and for the Roberts Court , '' said Thomas Goldstein , publisher of SCOTUSblog.com and a respected Washington attorney . `` It 's hard to imagine a situation where judges are going to have more power to define the social and family relationships of the country . '' A patchwork of state laws on the issue . Same-sex marriage is legal in 19 U.S states plus the District of Columbia : California , Connecticut , Delaware , Hawaii , Illinois , Iowa , Maine , Maryland , Massachusetts , Minnesota , New Hampshire , New Jersey , New Mexico , New York , Oregon , Pennsylvania , Rhode Island , Vermont , and Washington state . Massachusetts became the first to grant the right in 2004 . A Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage would essentially end a patchwork of state laws -- some that allow it , some that do not , and a few that allow protections short of marriage , such as civil unions and domestic partnerships . The highest court by its nature is a deliberative body , preferring almost by instinct to take things slowly , allowing issues to percolate in the lower courts and in the political discourse . Did Obama drop Supreme Court hint ? White House says no . Not so here . What has been most remarkable about the issue is how rapidly the core constitutional questions have reached the justices , presenting an inevitability among those on both sides of the debate they will get involved . The court hurried to schedule the appeals from the five states for its closed-door conference , even before all the legal briefs had been filed . That suggests the justices are ready to add the controversies to the docket , and now . Some conservative activists say this bench should slow down , and ultimately stay out . `` When the court on such an issue -- where there are very strong opinions on both sides , and a huge issue of social change in our country -- steps in and makes it into a constitutional issue , it makes the justices look significantly more political in the eyes of the American people , '' said Carrie Severino , chief counsel of the Judicial Crisis Network . `` It would cast doubt on the legitimacy of the court ... by imposing one type of solution for the entire nation , instead of leaving it in the hands of the states to decide how they want to address this issue . '' Many supporters of `` traditional '' marriage privately say preserving an inflexible one-man/one-woman definition of wedlock nationwide would not be realistic moving forward , and that a divided bloc of states upholding the status quo may be the best possible scenario . But all that hinges on what the Supreme Court does and does not do . A federal appeals court in August took just nine days after intensive oral arguments to issue its sweeping conclusion that voter-approved same-sex marriage bans in Indiana and Wisconsin were unacceptably discriminatory . And state leaders then took just five days to formally ask the Supreme Court to intervene . Even Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg recently hinted a `` why wait '' attitude may predominate . `` I think the court will not do what they did in the old days when they continually ducked the issue of miscegenation , '' she told the Associated Press in July , referring to state bans on interracial marriage , which was not struck down by the high court until 1967 . `` If a case is properly before the court , they will take it . '' In their private conference on Monday -- just the nine justices , no one else attends -- the court will discuss among itself whether to grant a `` petition for a writ of certiorari , '' essentially if any of the marriage cases deserve full scrutiny . It takes just four justices to put such petitions on the docket , but five to ultimately prevail on the merits . `` The stakes are incredibly high for Americans and for the legacy of the Roberts court , '' said Elizabeth Wydra , chief counsel of the progressive Constitutional Accountability Center . Moderate-conservative `` Justice Anthony Kennedy , who has been a crucial vote on the question gay rights [ in the past ] , is again expected be a crucial vote in this case . '' The high court 's big cases this year . More than 80 pending marriage equality lawsuits in 31 states . State and federal judges in the past year have ruled 39 times in favor of the expanded marriage right , while two have upheld existing laws . All this follows what the Supreme Court in 2013 said peripherally on the issue . Fifteen months ago , the justices cleared the way for same-sex marriages in California to resume after they ruled private parties did not have `` standing '' to defend a voter-approved ballot measure barring gay and lesbian couples from state-sanctioned wedlock . More importantly , the high court also rejected parts of the federal Defense of Marriage Act in its 5-4 `` Windsor '' decision , citing equal protection guarantees to conclude same-sex spouses legally married in a state may receive federal benefits , such as tax breaks . That federal question now morphs into the higher-stakes state jurisdiction , where marriage laws have traditionally been controlled , and where the equal protection issues will ultimately be resolved . By CNN 's count , various individuals and gay rights groups have launched more than 80 pending marriage equality lawsuits in all 31 states with current bans . A Supreme Court review would put all that litigation on hold . However , the nine justices have complete discretion to stand on the sidelines for now -- and wait for a majority of these state battles to play out , or for a federal appeals court to uphold a ban .
Public debate over same-sex marriage returns to the Supreme Court . Justices to meet to consider appeals from gays , lesbians in five states . Same-sex marriage laws are decided by states , resulting in legal patchwork across U.S .