The United States Supreme Court has delivered a significant victory for LGBTQ+ rights by refusing to reconsider its landmark 2015 decision that legalised same-sex marriage nationwide.
Court Rejects Former Clerk's Appeal
Without providing any commentary, the justices turned away an appeal from Kim Davis, the former Kentucky court clerk who gained national attention for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples following the original ruling. Davis had been attempting to overturn a lower-court order requiring her to pay $360,000 in damages and attorney's fees to a couple she had denied a marriage license.
The case drew particular interest because Davis's legal team repeatedly referenced Justice Clarence Thomas, who remains the only sitting justice to have publicly called for the overturning of the same-sex marriage decision. Thomas was among four dissenting justices in the original 2015 ruling.
Mixed Views Among Conservative Justices
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, the other remaining dissenters from the 2015 decision, took different approaches in the current case. While Roberts has remained silent on the subject since writing his original dissenting opinion, Alito has continued to criticise the decision but recently stated he wasn't advocating for its overturning.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who joined the court after the original ruling, has previously suggested that the court should correct mistakes and overturn decisions, as it did in the 2022 case that ended constitutional abortion rights. However, Barrett has indicated that same-sex marriage might represent a different circumstance because people have built their lives around the decision, marrying and having children in reliance on its protection.
Reactions and Consequences
Human Rights Campaign president Kelley Robinson welcomed the court's decision not to intervene. "The supreme court made clear today that refusing to respect the constitutional rights of others does not come without consequences," Robinson stated.
Davis originally brought national attention to eastern Kentucky's Rowan county when she turned away same-sex couples, citing her religious beliefs as preventing her compliance with the Supreme Court ruling. Her defiance of court orders to issue licenses led to a federal judge jailing her for contempt of court in September 2015.
She was released after her staff issued the licenses on her behalf, though her name was removed from the form. The Kentucky legislature later passed legislation removing all county clerks' names from state marriage licenses. Davis subsequently lost her reelection bid in 2018.
The decision comes as supporters recently celebrated the anniversary of both the United States v. Windsor and Obergefell v. Hodges decisions outside the Supreme Court building in Washington, DC, waving LGBTQIA pride flags in a show of continued support for marriage equality.
