JUST IN: Supreme Court Issues Shock Decision On Gay Marriage

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to reopen the debate over same-sex marriage, rejecting an appeal from former Kentucky clerk Kim Davis and leaving intact the 2015 landmark ruling that legalized such unions nationwide.

The justices declined to hear Davis’ challenge without explanation, sidestepping a case that had stirred fears among LGBTQ advocates that the high court’s conservative majority might revisit Obergefell v. Hodges — the decision that guaranteed a constitutional right to same-sex marriage.

Davis, the former Rowan County clerk who made national headlines by refusing to issue marriage licenses after Obergefell, now owes more than $360,000 in damages and legal fees to couples she denied. She spent several days in jail in 2015 after defying a federal court order to comply.

The court’s move drew attention because of its rightward tilt since Obergefell. The 2015 majority included Justice Anthony Kennedy, who wrote the sweeping opinion declaring that “no union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice and family.” Kennedy retired in 2018 and was replaced by Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, another key vote, died in 2020 and was succeeded by Justice Amy Coney Barrett.

Credit: Fred Schilling, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Three current members — Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito — dissented in Obergefell. The late Justice Antonin Scalia’s blistering dissent called the ruling a “threat to American democracy,” blasting what he called “the hubris reflected in today’s judicial Putsch.”

In her appeal, Davis argued it was time “for a course correction” and that her refusal to issue licenses stemmed from religious beliefs protected by the First Amendment. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected her claim, saying she could not avoid liability by invoking her faith.

Despite the court’s new makeup and the 2022 reversal of Roe v. Wade, there’s little sign the conservative bloc is eager to revisit Obergefell. Barrett recently told The New York Times that same-sex marriage carries “very concrete reliance interests,” while Alito, though critical of the ruling, said it remains “a precedent of the court that is entitled to the respect afforded by the doctrine of stare decisis.”

The Obergefell ruling sparked celebrations across the country, with the White House bathed in rainbow lights the night it was handed down. Since then, nearly 600,000 same-sex couples have tied the knot, according to UCLA’s Williams Institute.

For Davis and her supporters, though, the fight was never over, until now. The Supreme Court’s refusal to hear her case effectively closes the book on one of the country’s most polarizing legal battles.

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