The U.S. Supreme Court is being asked to overturn a landmark case that granted same-sex couples the right to marry throughout the United States, alarming supporters in the wake of the overturned Roe v. Wade and coming months after California voters moved to protect same-sex marriage.
The case involves Kim Davis, a former Kentucky county clerk who received national attention years ago for her refusal to issue marriage licenses to gay couples over her religious beliefs. Liberty Counsel, which is representing Davis, is asking the Supreme Court to overturn a judgment against Davis and to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges.
Who is Kim Davis and why is she turning to the Supreme Court?
In 2023, Davis was ordered by a federal jury to pay $100,000 to a gay couple she denied a marriage license to after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 2015, USA TODAY reported. She’s also been ordered to pay $260,000 for their attorneys' fees and expenses.
Liberty Counsel said in 2023 that the jury verdict “is unsound and easily sets this case up for an eventual route to the U.S. Supreme Court where religious freedom will be central to the argument along with the continued validity of the 2015 case of Obergefell v. Hodges.”
They argued that Davis isn’t liable for any damages “because she was entitled to a religious accommodation from issuing marriage licenses under her name and authority that conflict with her religious beliefs.”
Nearly two years later, the Liberty Counsel announced it was asking the Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges and to review Davis’ case.
“Kim Davis’ case underscores why the U.S. Supreme Court should overturn the wrongly decided Obergefell v. Hodges opinion because it threatens the religious liberty of Americans who believe that marriage is a sacred union between one man and one woman,” Liberty Counsel Founder Mat Staver said in a statement.
“A person cannot stand before the court utterly defenseless while facing claims of emotional distress for her views on marriage,” Staver continued. “Yet, that is the result of Obergefell, which led these courts to strip Davis of any personal First Amendment defense. Obergefell cannot just push the First Amendment aside to punish individuals for their beliefs about marriage.”
What is Obergefell v. Hodges?
Obergefell v. Hodges is “a consolidation” of multiple lower-court cases from several states that the Supreme Court ruled on in 2015, according to the Legal Information Institute. That included the case of Jim Obergefell, who told USA TODAY earlier this year about how the realization that Ohio wouldn’t recognize his marriage to his late partner, John Arthur, ultimately led to them filing a lawsuit in 2013.
“The Court, in this decision, holds same-sex couples may exercise the fundamental right to marry in all States,” former Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the opinion of the court. “It follows that the Court also must hold — and it now does hold — that there is no lawful basis for a State to refuse to recognize a lawful same-sex marriage performed in another State on the ground of its same-sex character.”
When was same-sex marriage legalized in California?
After a battle in the courts over Proposition 8, in which California voters approved an amendment to the state constitution to say that only marriage between a man and a woman was valid and recognized in the state, same-sex marriage was legalized in California in 2013. The Obergefell v. Hodges decision came two years after and a decade after San Francisco granted marriage licenses to same-sex couples under then-Mayor Gavin Newsom, the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California reported in 2004.
“Civil servants otherwise required to issue licenses for civil marriages may not refuse to do so because of personal beliefs or religious objections,” the ACLU of Northern California said. “When clerks review marriage license applications, they act on behalf of the State of California. For that reason, they may not treat one group of applicants differently from another group solely because of personal religious objections.”
Last fall, Proposition 3 was passed by voters in California. Proposition 3 amended the state’s constitution to “recognize fundamental right to marry, regardless of sex or race,” according to the California Secretary of State. It removed the language in California’s constitution that stated marriage is only between a man and a woman — language that was “unenforceable” by Supreme Court decisions, the ACLU SoCal said.
However, “recent decisions have shown that today’s Supreme Court is willing to upend decades of precedent and revoke hard-earned rights,” the ACLU SoCal said of its endorsement in favor of Prop 3. “We must enshrine the freedom to marry in the California Constitution by passing Prop 3.”
“Constitutional provisions offer strong, enduring safeguards against discriminatory laws and political shifts, providing consistent legal recognition and benefits for same-sex couples,” the League of Women Voters of California wrote about Prop 3.
USA TODAY reporters Cybele Mayes-Osterman and Maureen Groppe contributed to this story.
Paris Barraza is a trending reporter covering California news at The Desert Sun. Reach her at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Is the Supreme Court overturning same-sex marriage? What to know
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