At Minnpost.com, Hamline University professor David Schultz lays out the facts and speculation about how the Minnesota Supreme Court might rule in Benson v. Alverson, the lawsuit filed by three same-sex couples against the state of Minnesota for the right to marry.

The recent challenge to Minnesota’s ban on same-sex marriage is good law, bad politics. There is little question that the Minnesota Constitution and precedent favor the plaintiffs. But Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s recent appointments to the Supreme Court practically guarantee there will not be a majority that reaches that conclusion.

Schultz takes note of recent cases in Iowa, California and Massachusetts where marriage equality prevailed, but also cautions that Minnesota is unique in that gay marriage has lost at the Minnesota Supreme Court level before.