The Justice Department will urge the Supreme Court to uphold state laws granting same-sex couples the right to marry, Attorney General Eric Holder said Friday. "I can't imagine that we would take any other position while this president is in office and certainly as long as I am attorney general or anybody who is my successor," Holder said in an interview with NBC News.

On Monday, when the Supreme Court returns from break, the justices will meet to decide whether to hear any of three same-sex marriage cases during the next term. Holder, who in the past has called gay and lesbian rights "one of the defining civil rights challenges of our time," said the country was ready for the high court to support same-sex marriage. "Yeah," he said, citing polls in support of same-sex marriage. "I think the country is ready for that."

IN DEPTH

— Pete Williams