Supreme Court Rejects Call To Overturn Same-Sex Marriage
Without comment, the Supreme Court denied Kim Davis’ request to reconsider its landmark decision to legalize same-sex marriage.
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The Supreme Court has officially declined a request to reconsider its landmark decision that legalized same-sex marriage.
The court, without comment, denied the appeal made by Kim Davis, the former Kentucky county clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the court’s ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges.
Davis asked the Supreme Court to reverse the order that required her to pay more than $300,000 to a couple denied a marriage license and overturn its same-sex marriage ruling from 2015.
Back in 2015, Davis cited “God’s authority” as reason to withhold marriage licenses, which resulted in the lawsuit originally filed against her. Throughout this current trial a decade later, Davis’ lawyers cited Justice Clarence Thomas’ opinion that, like Roe v. Wade, Obergefell v. Hodges should be reconsidered.
At least four of the nine justices would have needed to vote for Davis’ case to send it to the Supreme Court. While Justice Thomas, Chief Justice Roberts, and Justice Alito were all dissenters in the original 2015 ruling, both Roberts and Alito had not advocated for its overturning in recent years.
Additionally, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who has said that there are times when the court should overturn and correct previous decisions such as Roe v. Wade, has been against overturning the ruling on same-sex marriage. In an interview with The New York Times, the justice explained that because people relied on the decision when they got married and had children, which are considered “concrete reliance interests,” the ruling would be more challenging to overturn than Roe v. Wade.
“Today, love won again. When public officials take an oath to serve their communities, that promise extends to everyone — including LGBTQ+ people. The Supreme Court made clear today that refusing to respect the constitutional rights of others does not come without consequences,” said Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson in a statement.
