The issue focused on the precedent that states had established in the 1970s that marriage can legally be regulated by religious groups. The court took the view that laws requiring that same-sex marriage be recognized were the action of the federal government rather than of the states. That court, however, has been on the wrong side of these decisions in the past, saying that when a religious group draws on the Constitution to defend religious beliefs against a constitutional right, that justice must be given to the opposing religious group. The court today