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The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to consider a petition seeking to overturn its landmark 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which established a constitutional right to same-sex marriage nationwide. The justices will review the case during their private conference on Friday to decide whether to add it to their docket for the upcoming term.
The appeal was brought by Kim Davis, a former Kentucky county clerk who gained national attention in 2015 when she refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, citing her religious beliefs. Her actions led to a lawsuit from a gay couple, David Moore and David Ermold, who argued she had violated their constitutional rights. Davis was briefly jailed for contempt of court for defying a judge's order to issue the licenses. The current appeal stems from that long-standing legal battle, with Davis's lawyers arguing that the original Obergefell ruling was wrongly decided and should be reversed.
Legal experts consider the appeal a longshot, but it arrives at a time of heightened anxiety over established legal precedents. The court's 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade, has fueled concerns about the stability of other landmark rulings, including marriage equality. In a concurring opinion in the Dobbs case, Justice Clarence Thomas explicitly called for the court to reconsider Obergefell.
Even if the Supreme Court were to overturn its previous decision, the 2022 Respect for Marriage Act provides some protections. The bipartisan law requires the federal government to recognize same-sex marriages and mandates that states recognize valid marriages from other states. However, it would not force states to issue new marriage licenses if Obergefell were overturned. Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in the original case, has voiced alarm, stating that people should be concerned about the court even considering the appeal. As justices have been formally asked to overturn the landmark ruling, many are watching closely to see if the conservative-majority court will take up a case that could dramatically alter the landscape of civil rights in the United States. Following the initial lawsuit, a jury did not award punitive damages to the couples in the case against Davis, though it did award them $50,000 each in compensatory damages, a decision that is also under appeal.
