The Supreme Court will decide as soon as Jan. 9 whether to take up the issue of gay marriage in a potentially monumental case.

An update to the court's schedule on Tuesday made clear that the justices will consider hearing appeals from rulings upholding bans on gay marriage at their Jan. 9 conference. If at least four justices vote to hear one or more of the cases, the court would be on track to hear arguments and issue a decision by June.

ADVERTISEMENT

That decision could include declaring a nationwide constitutional right to same-sex marriage in what would be a historic and controversial ruling.

In October, the court ducked the issue of gay marriage by declining to hear any of seven cases on the issue before it. That decision was interpreted as a signal that the majority of the justices are content to allow lower courts to continue to strike down bans, without being forced to issue a contentious nationwide ruling themselves.

Since then, the court's hand could have been forced by a November decision by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati that upheld bans in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee.

That decision created a split in the circuit courts, because four others have struck down gay marriage bans. The split decision in the lower courts means that the Supreme Court is likely to settle the disagreement.

There are now cases from Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee before the Supreme Court, as well as a district court decision in Louisiana upholding a gay marriage ban.

The Sixth Circuit decision and the Louisiana court decision are exceptions to a string of federal court rulings striking down gay marriage bans that began after the Supreme Court struck down part of the Defense of Marriage Act in 2013.

The Supreme Court did not rule at that time on whether there is a constitutional right to gay marriage, but conservatives warned that the logic of the decision pushed in that direction.