U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony
Kennedy has likened the court's recent ruling striking down marriage
bans in all 50 states to a case in which the court decided that
burning an American flag is protected free speech.
Kennedy made his remarks during the
closing day of the annual Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference in San
Diego.
The 1989 case was also narrowly decided
with Kennedy acting as the swing vote.
He told judges and lawyers attending
the conference that both cases were controversial, according to the
AP.
He said that the public came around in
the previous case after two or three months.
Kennedy said that a German prisoner
during World War II who was outraged by the flag-burning decision
reversed course after he read Kennedy's concurring opinion.