Washington, D.C. — November 10, 2025
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to revisit its 2015 landmark decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, rejecting a petition from former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, who sought to overturn the ruling on religious grounds.

Davis, who once served as the Rowan County Clerk, gained national attention after refusing to issue marriage licenses to both gay and straight couples following the Court’s historic decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. That ruling held that the 14th Amendment guarantees same-sex couples the right to marry, cementing marriage equality as a constitutional right.

Despite directives from then-Governor Steve Beshear ordering all Kentucky clerks to comply with the new law, Davis refused, claiming that signing marriage licenses for same-sex couples violated her deeply held Christian beliefs. Her stance triggered a nationwide debate over the balance between religious freedom and constitutional rights.

When Davis continued to deny marriage licenses—including to couples David Moore and David Ermold—the pair sued her for violating their constitutional right to marry. Davis was later jailed for five days in 2015 for defying a federal court order. Although Kentucky subsequently changed its law to remove clerks’ names from marriage licenses, Moore and Ermold pursued damages and were each awarded $50,000 by a jury.

Davis appealed, arguing that she was protected by the First Amendment’s religious freedom clause, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit disagreed. Writing for the panel, Judge Helene White emphasized that while public officials retain personal religious rights, “when an official wields state power against private citizens, her conscience must yield to the Constitution.”

The court warned that accepting Davis’s argument could open the door to widespread discrimination, suggesting that officials opposed to interracial or interfaith marriages could deny licenses or services based on personal beliefs.

Her latest petition urged the Supreme Court not only to overturn the appeals court decision but also to reconsider Obergefell v. Hodges entirely—a move that alarmed civil rights advocates who feared another reversal akin to the 2022 Roe v. Wade decision.

While Justice Clarence Thomas has previously suggested revisiting rulings based on “substantive due process,” including same-sex marriage, no other justice joined his opinion. The Court’s refusal to take up Davis’s appeal signals that, for now, marriage equality remains settled law in the United States.

Credit: CBS News