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The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a former Kentucky county official’s attempt to overturn its landmark 2015 ruling legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide, as the justices avoided the controversial case more than three years after the conservative majority struck down abortion rights.
The court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, rejected the appeal of Kim Davis, a former Kentucky county clerk who was sued by a gay couple after refusing to issue marriage licenses once the 2015 ruling recognized a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. Davis said same-sex marriage conflicted with her religious beliefs as an Apostolic Christian.
Davis appealed after lower courts rejected her claim that the right to free exercise of religion, enshrined in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, shielded her from liability in the case. Davis was ordered to pay more than $360,000 in damages and legal fees for violating a same-sex couple’s right to marry.
The 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges represents a historic victory for LGBTQ rights in the United States. He said constitutional guarantees of due process and equal protection under the law meant states could not ban same-sex marriages.
A decade after the Supreme Court’s decision legalized same-sex marriage in the United States, support among Republicans now stands at 41 percent, while among Democrats it is 88 percent — the widest gap between the two parties since Gallup began tracking the issue.
The decision was 5-4, with conservative Justice Anthony Kennedy, now retired, joined by four liberal justices. Kennedy wrote in the decision that the hope of gays intending to marry was “that they will not be condemned to live in solitude, excluded from one of the oldest institutions of civilization. They demand equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them this right.”
Overturning Obergefell would allow states to once again pass laws against same-sex marriage.
Four conservative justices dissented, three of whom still serve on the court — Clarence Thomas, John Roberts and Samuel Alito. The Court’s conservative bloc also includes three justices appointed by Republican President Donald Trump during his first term.
The Trump administration did not weigh in on the Davis case as the Supreme Court considered whether to take up the case.
Roe v Wade overturned
The court today has a different ideological makeup than a decade ago, becoming more conservative on a number of issues.
In 2022, the court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade of 1973 which recognized a woman’s constitutional right to abortion and legalized the procedure nationwide. The ruling raised hopes among many conservatives and Republicans opposed to Obergefell that the court would also consider striking down the right to same-sex marriage.
Gay rights advocates applaud Supreme Court same-sex ruling
Davis, who was elected to her position, refused to issue marriage licenses in her county following the Obergefell decision. Davis also served six days in jail for contempt of court for violating a court order authorizing the issuance of marriage licenses.
Davis’ appeal was part of a civil rights lawsuit filed by David Ermold and David Moore, who accused Davis of violating their constitutional right to marry, as recognized in the Obergefell decision. Ermold and Moore were licensed by the county while Davis was imprisoned.
U.S. District Judge David Bunning in 2022 rejected Davis’ claim that she was shielded from liability in the case because issuing a marriage license to a same-sex couple would violate her constitutionally protected religious beliefs.
“Davis cannot use his own constitutional rights as a shield to violate the constitutional rights of others while carrying out his duties as an elected official,” Bunning wrote.
A jury awarded the plaintiffs $100,000 in damages in 2023, and Bunning later ordered Davis to pay more than $260,000 in attorney fees and expenses.
The Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also ruled against Davis, concluding in March that, under Supreme Court precedent, the First Amendment protects only private conduct, not the actions of government officials while carrying out their duties.
“This means that the license denials were a ‘state action,’ which does not qualify for First Amendment protection, and Davis cannot assert a First Amendment liability defense,” the 6th Circuit ruling said.
As for Davis’ argument that the Obergefell decision should be overturned, the 6th Circuit said she waived that argument early in the case.
In his appeal to America’s highest court, Davis’ lawyers said the right to same-sex marriage — like the now-overturned right to abortion — is based on what they called the “legal fiction” of a principle called “substantial due process” that the Supreme Court has said in rulings over the decades protects a range of personal liberties.
In 2020, the Supreme Court rejected a previous appeal by Davis at an earlier stage of the dispute.
In an opinion accompanying the action, Thomas, joined by Alito, wrote that the ruling on same-sex marriage continues to have “ruinous consequences” for religious freedom.
