The U.S. Supreme Court has firmly shut the door on a challenge to its landmark 2015 decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. The justices, without any comment, rejected an appeal from former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, who sought to overturn the ruling.
A Longshot Appeal Meets Its End
This appeal was always considered a legal longshot, but it garnered significant attention due to the court's notable shift to the right since the original Obergefell v. Hodges decision was passed by a narrow 5-4 majority. Of that 2015 majority, three justices are no longer on the bench, with two having been replaced by appointees of former President Donald Trump.
The court's refusal to hear the case leaves intact a jury finding against Davis. She had drawn national headlines by defying the court's 2015 ruling and halting all marriage licenses in Rowan County. As a result of her actions, a jury found her liable and ordered her to pay $50,000 in damages to each of the two men she turned away, with a judge later adding $260,000 in legal fees and expenses, bringing the total to $360,000.
Context and Concerns for the Future
The appeal stirred concerns within the LGBTQ+ community and its allies, particularly after the Supreme Court's 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the precedent that had protected abortion rights. In a concurring opinion for that case, Justice Clarence Thomas explicitly suggested the court should also "reconsider" the same-sex marriage precedent.
Mathew Staver, Davis's lawyer and chairman of the conservative Liberty Counsel, echoed this sentiment, stating, "Like the abortion decision in Roe v. Wade, Obergefell was egregiously wrong from the start. It is not a matter of if, but when the Supreme Court will overturn Obergefell."
A Clear Victory for the Plaintiffs
The court's rebuff is a definitive victory for David Ermold and David Moore, the couple whom Davis refused to serve three times in the weeks following the original ruling. Their lawyer, William Powell of Georgetown Law's Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection, said the denial "confirms what we already knew: Same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry. Kim Davis's denial of marriage licenses in defiance of Obergefell plainly violated that right."
In her appeal, Davis had pressed arguments based on religious rights and sovereign immunity, contending that the Constitution "makes no reference to same-sex marriage." Ermold and Moore successfully urged the court to reject the appeal, noting that the Obergefell ruling has become woven into the nation's social fabric, with nearly 800,000 married same-sex couples now living in the United States.
