News

Supreme Court Asked to Overturn Landmark Same-Sex Marriage Ruling in Case Brought by Former Kentucky Clerk

A decade after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, the justices will consider this fall whether to hear a case directly challenging that decision for the first time.

The petition comes from Kim Davis, the former Rowan County, Kentucky, clerk who was jailed for six days in 2015 after refusing to issue marriage licenses to a same-sex couple, citing her religious beliefs. Davis is appealing a $100,000 jury award for emotional damages to the couple, plus $260,000 in attorneys’ fees.

In her filing last month, Davis argues that the First Amendment’s free exercise clause shields her from personal liability for denying the licenses. More significantly, she claims the court’s 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which recognized marriage rights for same-sex couples under the 14th Amendment, was “egregiously wrong” and should be overturned.

“The mistake must be corrected,” wrote her attorney, Mathew Staver, calling Justice Anthony Kennedy’s majority opinion in Obergefell “legal fiction.” He described the case as one of “exceptional importance,” noting Davis was “the first individual in the Republic’s history who was jailed for following her religious convictions regarding the historic definition of marriage.”

Lower courts have rejected Davis’s arguments. A federal appeals court ruled earlier this year that she “cannot raise the First Amendment as a defense because she is being held liable for state action, which the First Amendment does not protect.”

Attorneys for David Ermold and David Moore—the Kentucky couple who sued Davis and later married—dismissed her latest appeal. “Not a single judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals showed any interest in Davis’s rehearing petition, and we are confident the Supreme Court will likewise agree that Davis’s arguments do not merit further attention,” said their lawyer, William Powell.

If the Supreme Court agrees to hear the case, it would mark the first formal bid to overturn Obergefell since it was decided in 2015.

Kindly share this story:
Kindly share this story:
Share on whatsapp
Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin
Share on telegram
Share on facebook
Top News

Related Articles