Rhode Island state Sen. Donna Nesselbush, right, embraces a supporter after the Marriage Equality Act gets signed into law at the State House in Providence on May 2, 2013. The Rhode Island act is set to become law August 1, and Delaware and Minnesota also recently passed legislation. Once these laws go into effect, 12 states and the District of Columbia will allow same-sex couples to wed. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to hand down decisions in June in two same-sex marriage cases.
Washington (CNN) -- The Supreme Court took no action Friday on a pending series of appeals over the divisive issue of same-sex marriage.
The justices had a closed-door conference to consider whether to accept for review several challenges to federal and state laws restricting the ability of gay and lesbian couples to legally wed.
But the court, without explanation, had nothing to report on the pending appeals. It was perhaps a sign it needed more time to consider the complex legal and constitutional questions.
If the high court has merely delayed consideration of the same-sex marriage cases, it may be prepared to revisit them as early as next Friday, when the justices hold another private conference.
National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (2012): The Supreme Court upheld most of the Affordable Care Act, the Obama administration's health care reform law, on June 28, 2012. The decision determined how hundreds of millions of Americans will receive health care. Take a look at other important cases decided by the highest court in the land.
Photos: Supreme Court cases that changed America
The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court sit for their official photograph on October 8, 2010, at the Supreme Court. Front row, from left: Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Anthony M. Kennedy and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Back row, from left: Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer, Samuel Alito Jr. and Elena Kagan.
Photos: Today's Supreme Court
The political, social, and legal stakes of this long-simmering debate would once again put the high court at the center of national attention, a contentious encore to its summer ruling upholding the massive health care reform law championed by President Barack Obama.
Three separate issues on same-sex marriage confront the justices, including federal benefits, state benefits and state referendums.
Although there was no certainty the court was prepared to announce it would be tackling the issue, there was building anticipation among advocacy groups on both sides of the debate.
The Boston-based Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders had set up temporary offices in a building next door to the high court to await word. Officials there privately expressed a measure of anxiety as the hours passed with no announcement.
The organization represents a broad group of gay and lesbian individuals and families in New England who were denied a range of federal benefits under the federal Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA.
For federal purposes under the 1996 law, marriage is defined as only between one man and one woman. That means federal tax, Social Security, pension, and bankruptcy benefits, and family medical leave protections -- do not apply to gay and lesbian couples.
Earlier this month, voters in Maryland, Washington, and Maine approved same-sex marriage, adding to the six states and the District of Columbia that already have done so. Minnesota voters also rejected an effort to ban such unions through a constitutional amendment.
The court on Friday did accept for review two unrelated cases, including an appeal of whether human genes are patentable.
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California's Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage, is one of the two cases now before the U.S. Supreme Court. Here, Frank Capley-Alfano, left, and Joe Capley-Alfano celebrate outside San Francisco City Hall in February 2012 after a federal appeals panel found that Proposition 8 was unconstitutional.
The second case before the Supreme Court is the Defense of Marriage Act, a 1996 federal law defining marriage as between a man and a woman. Here, Jamous Lizotte, right, and Steven Jones pose for photos while waiting for a marriage license in Portland, Maine, in December 2012.
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton signs a bill legalizing same-sex marriage at the state Capitol in St. Paul on May 14, 2013.
Delaware Gov. Jack Markell holds up legislation on May 7, 2013, allowing same-sex couples to wed.
Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire celebrates after signing marriage equality legislation into law earlier this year. Voters there approved same-sex marriage on Election Day.
In 2010, television reporter Roby Chavez, right, shares a moment with gay rights activist Frank Kameny during Chavez' and Chris Roe's wedding ceremony in the nation's capital.
Phyllis Siegel, 76, kisses her wife, Connie Kopelov, 84, after exchanging vows at the Manhattan City Clerk's office last year.
Michael Miller, left, and Ross Zachs marry on the West Hartford Town Hall steps after same-sex marriages became legal in Connecticut in 2008. A shift in beliefs was captured in a recent Pew Center poll that found 48% of Americans now favor same-sex marriage. Just four years ago, only 39% felt that way.
Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, center, shakes hands with Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller after signing a same-sex marriage bill. The law was challenged, but voters approved marriage equality in a November referendum.
Lara Ramsey, left, and her partner of eight years, Jane Lohmann, play with their 7-month-old son, Wyatt Ramsey-Lohmann. The two wed in 2004 after Massachusetts approved same-sex marriage.
Beth Robinson of the Vermont Freedom to Marry Task Force was among those who fought for marriage equality in Vermont in 2009.
Amy Klein-Matheny, left, and her wife Jennifer were married in 2009 in Iowa after same-sex couples were allowed to marry there.
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010): Activists rally in February 2012 to urge the Supreme Court to overturn its decision that fundamentally changed campaign finance law by allowing corporations and unions to contribute unlimited funds to political action committees not affiliated with a candidate.
Texas v. Johnson (1989): The Supreme Court overturned the decision that convicted Gregory Lee Johnson of desecrating a venerated object after he set an American flag on fire during a protest. The court ruled that Johnson (at right with his lawyer, William Kunstler) was protected under the First Amendment right to freedom of speech.
Roe v. Wade (1973): Norma McCorvey, identified as "Jane Roe," sued Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade over a law that made it a felony to have an abortion unless the life of the mother was in danger. The court agreed with Roe and overruled any laws that made abortion illegal in the first trimester. Here, McCorvey, left, stands with her attorney Gloria Allred in 1989.
Miranda v. Arizona (1966): Ernesto Miranda confessed to a crime without the police informing him of his right to an attorney or right against self-incrimination. His attorney argued in court that the confession should have been inadmissible, and in 1966, the Supreme Court agreed. The term "Miranda rights" has been used since.
Gideon v. Wainwright (1963): The Supreme Court overturned the burglary conviction of Clarence Earl Gideon after he wrote to the court from his prison cell, explaining he was denied the right to an attorney at his 1961 trial.
Mapp v. Ohio (1961): The Supreme Court overturned the conviction of Dollree Mapp because the evidence collected against her was obtained during an illegal search. The ruling re-evaluated the Fourth Amendment, which protects citizens against unreasonable searches and seizures.
Brown v. Board of Education (1954): Nathaniel Steward recites his lesson surrounded by white classmates at the Saint-Dominique School in Washington. In Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to separate students based on race.
Korematsu v. United States (1944): Fred Korematsu, a Japanese-American man, was arrested after authorities found out that he claimed to be a Mexican-American to avoid an internment camp during World War II. The court ruled that the rights of an individual were not as important as the need to protect the country during wartime. In 1998, President Bill Clinton awarded Korematsu the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896): Homer Plessy was arrested when he refused to leave a whites-only segregated train car, claiming he was 7/8 white and only 1/8 black. The Supreme Court ruled that "separate but equal" facilities for blacks were constitutional, which remained the rule until Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.
Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857): When Dred Scott asked a circuit court to reward him his freedom after moving to a free state, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress didn't have the right to prohibit slavery and, further, that those of African-American descent were not protected by the Constitution.
Gibbons v. Ogden (1824): This was the first case to establish Congress' power to regulate interstate commerce. The ruling signaled a shift in power from the states to the federal government. Aaron Ogden, seen here, was given exclusive permission from the state of New York to navigate the waters between New York and certain New Jersey ports. When Ogden brought a lawsuit against Thomas Gibbons for operating steamships in his waters, the Supreme Court sided with Gibbons.
McCulloch v. Maryland (1819): In response to the federal government's controversial decision to institute a national bank in the state, Maryland tried to tax the bank out of business. When a federal bank cashier, James W. McCulloch, refused to pay the taxes, the state of Maryland filed charges against him. In McCulloch v. Maryland, the Supreme Court ruled that chartering a bank was an implied power of the Constitution. The first national bank, pictured, was created by Congress in 1791 in Philadelphia.
In 2005, Chief Justice John G. Roberts was nominated by President George W. Bush to succeed Justice Sandra Day O'Connor as an associate justice. After Chief Justice William Rehnquist died, however, Bush named Roberts to the chief justice post. The court has moved to the right during his tenure, although Roberts supplied the key vote to uphold President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act.
Justice Antonin Scalia, 76, was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1986 to fill the seat vacated by Justice William Rehnquist when he was elevated to chief justice. A constitutional originalist -- and a colorful orator -- Scalia is a member of the court's conservative wing. He is currently the court's longest-serving justice.
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, 76, was appointed to the court by President Ronald Reagan in 1988. He is a conservative justice but has provided crucial swing votes in many cases, writing the majority opinion, for example, in Lawrence v. Texas, which struck down that state's sodomy law.
Justice Clarence Thomas, 64, is the second African-American to serve on the court, succeeding Justice Thurgood Marshall when he was appointed by President George H. W. Bush in 1991. He is a conservative, a strict constructionist who supports states' rights.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 79, is the second woman to serve on the Supreme Court. Appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1993, she is a strong voice in the court's liberal minority.
Justice Stephen G. Breyer, 74, was appointed to the court in 1994 by President Bill Clinton. He is considered a member of the court's liberal minority.
Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., 62, was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2006 and is known as one of the most conservative justices to serve on the court in modern times.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, 58, is the court's first Hispanic and third female justice. She was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2009 and is regarded as a resolutely liberal member of the court.
Justice Elena Kagan, 52, is the fourth female justice and a member of the court's liberal wing. She was appointed in 2010 by President Barack Obama and is the court's youngest member.
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