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Last Update2025-08-11
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Event Overview
The petition reflects ongoing tensions between religious objections and civil rights enforcement, highlighting persistent efforts to challenge judicial precedents on LGBTQ+ equality. This case underscores broader societal and legal debates over the balance between individual beliefs and state obligations under federal rulings, as well as the mechanisms for revisiting landmark constitutional decisions through judicial channels.
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Kim Davis Petitions U.S. Supreme Court to Overturn 2015 Same-Sex Marriage Ruling
On [date unspecified in the article], former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis formally petitioned the United States Supreme Court to overturn its 2015 landmark decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. Davis became widely known in 2015 when she refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples citing her religious beliefs, shortly after the Supreme Court’s ruling.
In her latest legal filing, Davis argues that the Obergefell ruling is a 'legal fiction' and asks the Court to revisit and reverse its decision. The petition is part of her ongoing legal defense in lawsuits brought by couples denied marriage licenses during her tenure as Rowan County Clerk.
Davis contends that the Court should correct what she describes as a constitutional error and restore the authority of individual states to define marriage. Her filing claims that the prior decision conflicts with principles of religious freedom and the original understanding of the Constitution.
The Supreme Court has not yet indicated whether it will hear Davis’s appeal. If accepted, the case could potentially reconsider the federal legal standard for marriage equality established eight years ago.
The 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision declared that the right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples under the Fourteenth Amendment, requiring all states to issue marriage licenses to and recognize the marriages of same-sex couples. Davis’s refusal to issue licenses led to her being briefly jailed for contempt of court and sparked national debate over religious liberty versus civil rights.
No date has been set for the Supreme Court’s decision on whether to grant certiorari in Davis’s appeal.
Former Kentucky Clerk Petitions U.S. Supreme Court to Overturn Same-Sex Marriage Ruling
On April 2024, former Rowan County, Kentucky clerk Kim Davis formally petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear her case challenging the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. Davis, who gained national attention in 2015 for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples citing her religious beliefs, argues that the landmark ruling should be overturned.
The petition comes after multiple legal battles stemming from Davis’s refusal to comply with the Obergefell decision while serving as county clerk. She was previously sued by affected couples, some of whom won damages judgments against her. Davis contends that the Supreme Court’s decision infringed upon her constitutional rights.
The request follows language from Justice Clarence Thomas, who has openly criticized Obergefell in past opinions and suggested the court should reconsider it. In 2020, Thomas, joined by Justice Samuel Alito, wrote that the decision had “created a problem that only [the Court] can fix” and curtailed the freedom of people with religious objections.
If the Supreme Court accepts the case, it will directly revisit a ruling that has stood for nearly nine years, potentially affecting marriage rights for same-sex couples across the United States.