The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge to its 2015 decision that established a constitutional right to same-sex marriage nationwide.
The petition was filed by Kim Davis, the former Kentucky county clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples after Obergefell v. Hodges. Davis was jailed for contempt of court, lost her re-election bid and was ordered by a jury to pay $360,000 to a couple she had denied. She asked the high court to recognize First Amendment religious protections shielding her from liability. The justices denied her petition without comment.
Davis has argued that her religious beliefs conflict with Obergefell and told the court her case deserved special consideration because she was jailed for following her convictions. Others have also pursued measures to narrow or overturn the 2015 ruling. Lambda Legal says at least nine states considered bills or resolutions this year criticizing Obergefell or seeking to limit marriage to opposite-sex couples. On Oct. 24, the Texas Supreme Court approved language allowing judges to decline to perform same-sex wedding ceremonies on religious grounds.
Justice Clarence Thomas, writing in a concurring opinion in the case that overturned the constitutional right to abortion, urged reconsideration of precedents involving birth control, same-sex marriage and same-sex intimacy — a line of argument that has unsettled LGBT rights advocates.
Even if the Supreme Court were to revisit Obergefell, same-sex marriages retain federal protection under the 2022 Respect for Marriage Act, which repealed the Defense of Marriage Act and recognizes same-sex and interracial marriages. However, overturning Obergefell could allow some states to refuse to recognize such unions.
By declining to take Davis’s case, the Supreme Court left the constitutional status of same-sex marriage unchanged for now.