The U.S. Supreme Court declined a plea on Monday from a former Kentucky county official seeking to reverse the significant 2015 decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. The court, with a conservative majority of 6-3, dismissed an appeal by Kim Davis, a former Kentucky county clerk who faced a lawsuit from a gay couple for refusing to issue marriage licenses following the 2015 ruling that recognized the constitutional right to same-sex marriage. Davis cited her Apostolic Christian beliefs as conflicting with same-sex marriage.
Despite Davis’s claims that her First Amendment right to religious freedom should shield her from legal repercussions, lower courts ruled against her. She was directed to pay over $360,000 for violating a same-sex couple’s marriage rights. The 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling marked a significant advancement for LGBTQ rights in the U.S., establishing that states cannot outlaw same-sex marriages.
Former Justice Anthony Kennedy, alongside four liberal justices, delivered the 5-4 Obergefell decision, emphasizing the right of gay individuals to marry and be treated equally under the law. Overturning Obergefell would permit states to ban same-sex marriage once again. Three current conservative justices on the court, Clarence Thomas, John Roberts, and Samuel Alito, dissented from the ruling. The court’s conservative faction includes three justices appointed by former President Donald Trump.
The court’s ideological shift towards conservatism in recent years was evident in the 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, a landmark 1973 ruling legalizing abortion nationwide and recognizing a woman’s constitutional right to the procedure. This overturning raised hopes among conservatives that the court might reconsider the same-sex marriage issue.
Davis, an elected official, faced backlash for refusing to issue marriage licenses post-Obergefell and spent time in jail for contempt of court. The civil rights lawsuit against her, brought by David Ermold and David Moore, accused her of violating their right to marry. Despite Davis’s arguments based on her religious beliefs, courts ruled against her, emphasizing that government officials like her are not shielded by the First Amendment when carrying out their duties.
In her attempt to challenge the Obergefell ruling, Davis argued that the decision was based on a legal concept of “substantive due process,” similar to the now-overturned right to abortion. The Supreme Court rejected a previous appeal by Davis in 2020, with Justices Thomas and Alito expressing concerns about the impact of the same-sex marriage ruling on religious freedom.
