States should follow the supreme court ruling because it supports the equal protection clause dictated within the 14th amendment. The Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment prohibits states from denying any person within its jurisdiction “equal protection of the law”. In other words, the laws of a state must not discriminate. Although, the Equal Protection Clause was created during the post-civil war era to define the rights of freed slaves and to ensure their protection under the law. Throughout time, values have changed as people become more aware of the diversity of groups which exist and the extent of discrimination which follows these groups. As a result, the nation becomes more accepting and the malleable, or ripe for interpretation,