Rose good evening. Scott is on assignment. Im charlie rose, and this is our western edition. The United States Supreme Court is taking up one of the biggest cases of the 21st century. The justices will decide whether samesex marriage will become the law of the land. At issue does the constitutions guarantee of equal protection under the law mean gay couples have the same right to marry as straight couples. Here is our chief legal correspondent, jan crawford. Reporter the announcement that the court will decide once and for all the issue of same sex marriage reflects how dramatically the law has changed, beginning in 2003, whenstic the justices struck down laws in nearly a third of the country that made homosexual sex a crime. Today, just 12 years later, 36 states allow lesbians and gays to marry. The justices now will look at states where samesex marriage re remains illegal. An ohiobased federal Appeals Court all but forced their hand. It ruled in november samesex couples had no consti