The Court didn’t even entertain the challange to the landmark Same Sex decision….
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up a long-shot request that could have given the justices a chance to overturn the landmark decision recognizing same-sex marriage nationwide.
The big picture: The high court’s rejection signals, for now, that same-sex marriage remains settled law.
Driving the news: The Supreme Court rejected the application without explanation, as is custom.
- The case was brought by Kim Davis, a former county clerk in Kentucky who refused to issue a gay couple a marriage license in 2015. Her appeal claimed the court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges was “egregiously wrong” and “deeply damaging.”
- Davis was ordered to pay $360,000 in damages and fees, and she has been unsuccessful in her attempts to challenge that judgment.
Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in the historic case, said in a statement provided to Axios that the court did the “right thing” in rejecting the request, saying he hopes this “is the last we hear from” Davis.
- He said marriage equality “has given couples and families the rights, protections, and dignity they deserve. Queer kids can dream of a future, married to the person they love in the place they call home.”
- While he said today warrants celebration, Obergefell added “we should not assume marriage equality will stand forever” and that there could be “continued efforts to bring another case before the Supreme Court, a court that has proven that precedent is not always safe.”
Between the lines: LGBTQ+ rights advocates, like Obergefell, have stressed that marriage equality must still be defended. However, legal experts previously told Axios the high court was likely to deny review in this case.
- Unwinding years of protections for same-sex marriage would create a complicated legal quagmire.
- But the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision — and Clarence Thomas’ concurring opinion suggesting the court should revisit Obergefell — raised alarms that marriage equality could be the next right to fall.
- More than two dozen states have trigger laws that would limit marriage equality if the Supreme Court ever overturned its 2015 decision….
image…Same-sex marriage supporter Vin Testa waves an LGBTQIA+ pride flag in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 26, 2023, in Washington, D.C. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
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