In a quiet but decisive move, the U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday it will not hear the appeal of former Kentucky clerk Kim Davis — the county official who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the landmark 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges. The justices wrote, “The petition for a writ of certiorari is denied,” leaving intact lower court rulings that found Davis personally liable for violating the constitutional rights of the couples she refused to serve.
The decision effectively closes a decade-long legal chapter over religious exemptions in public office, keeping marriage equality firmly in place.
Davis, who became a conservative cause célèbre after her 2015 defiance, had asked the high court not only to revisit her liability but to reconsider Obergefell itself. However, now, over ten years after Obergefell v. Hodges established marriage equality nationwide, the man behind the landmark case is celebrating another victory. For Jim Obergefell, the justices’ silence spoke volumes.
He said, “The Court did the right thing in denying cert, and people across our nation can breathe a little easier today…Kim Davis should have lived up to her oath and duties as a public servant by serving everyone in Rowan County, Kentucky… Instead, she chose to use her faith to persecute others… I hope the Supreme Court halts further attempts by public officials to use their personal faith to deny others their civil and human rights.”
