Supreme Court Rejects Former Kentucky Court Clerk’s Appeal On Same-Sex Marriage
The Supreme Court on Monday affirmed its landmark 2015 decision, Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, by rejecting an appeal that sought to overturn the ruling.
The justices, without offering comment, turned away the appeal filed by Kim Davis, the former Kentucky court clerk who gained national attention for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples following the high court’s decision.
Davis had been attempting to block a lower-court order requiring her to pay $360,000 in damages and attorney’s fees to a couple she denied a marriage license. Her legal team had repeatedly cited Justice Clarence Thomas, the only current justice who has explicitly called for the ruling to be erased.
The decision was praised by LGBTQ+ advocates. Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson stated, “The Supreme Court made clear today that refusing to respect the constitutional rights of others does not come without consequences.”
Davis was briefly jailed for contempt of court in 2015 for defying judicial orders to issue the licenses, leading to a change in Kentucky law that removed the names of all county clerks from state marriage licenses.
She lost her bid for re-election in 2018.
READ MORE: Are Post-Election Day Ballots Legal? States’ Voting Laws Hang In The Supreme Court Balance
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