Supreme Court Upholds Same-Sex Marriage Rights, Rejects Challenge from Former Kentucky Clerk
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a long-shot challenge to the constitutional right to marry for same-sex couples, turning away an appeal petition from Kim Davis, a former Kentucky county clerk who defied the court’s landmark decision in 2015 and repeatedly refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Davis had argued that the court should hear her case to decide whether the free exercise of religion guaranteed by the 1st Amendment should have protected her from being sued. Her appeal also posed a separate question, asking the court to decide whether Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 decision that established the right to same-sex marriage, should be overturned. However, the court rejected her appeal without comment, upholding the constitutional right to same-sex marriage.
Background on the Case
Davis, the former Rowan County Clerk, had been a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage and refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, citing her religious beliefs. Her actions led to a lawsuit from David Moore and David Ermold, a same-sex couple who were denied a marriage license by Davis. The couple ultimately obtained a marriage license from one of Davis’s deputies while she was in jail for contempt of court.
The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals had previously rejected Davis’s claims based on the free exercise of religion, stating that government officials do not have the right to refuse to carry out their public duties based on their personal beliefs. Judge Helene White wrote, “That is not how the Constitution works. In their private lives, government officials are of course free to express their views and live according to their faith. But when an official wields state power against private citizens, her conscience must yield to the Constitution.”
Implications of the Decision
The Supreme Court’s decision to reject Davis’s appeal is seen as a significant victory for LGBTQ+ rights. The court’s ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges established the constitutional right to same-sex marriage, and this decision reinforces that ruling. According to the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law, there are approximately 823,000 married same-sex couples in the United States, with nearly 300,000 children being raised by them.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett, in her new book “Listening to the Law,” described the right to marry as a “fundamental right” that is protected by the Constitution. She wrote, “The complicated moral debate about abortion stands in dramatic contrast to widespread American support for liberties like the rights to marry, have sex, procreate, use contraception, and direct the upbringing of children.”
Former Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis speaks to reporters in Kentucky in 2015. The Supreme Court on Monday rejected her appeal to overturn the right to same-sex marriage.
(Timothy D. Easley / Associated Press)
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