US Supreme Court to weigh challenge to same-sex marriage

US Supreme Court to weigh challenge to same-sex marriage

Ten years after the US Supreme Court legalised same-sex marriage nationwide, the justices are again being asked to reopen the question. Kim Davis, the former Kentucky county clerk who refused to issue marriage licences to gay couples in 2015, has petitioned the court to overturn the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges ruling while appealing a $360,000 judgment against her. The justices considered her request in a private conference Friday, a moment that has stirred both political alarm and constitutional debate, the New York Times reported.

Why Davis’s case resurfaced

Davis, who was briefly jailed in 2015 for defying a federal order, argues she should not be liable because her refusal was grounded in her religious beliefs. She now claims the First Amendment protects her from damages and that the court should reverse Obergefell because, in her view, there is no constitutional right to same-sex marriage. Her petition arrives after years of right-wing pressure: Justice Clarence Thomas once urged revisiting the ruling, and conservative legal groups have targeted LGBTQ rights under the Trump administration.

Legal experts say the precedent remains strong

Despite the political noise, many attorneys who fought for marriage equality caution that the legal foundations of Obergefell remain intact. Mary Bonauto, who argued the case in 2015, notes that millions of Americans have built families, financial arrangements and parental rights on its guarantees. Even Justice Anthony Kennedy, the retired swing vote who wrote the opinion, recently warned that the “tremendous reliance” interests created by the ruling are a powerful reason not to overturn it.

The court’s ideological shift fuels uncertainty

The bench has transformed dramatically since 2015, with three Trump-appointed justices replacing members of the Obergefell majority. Still, signals from the court suggest hesitation. Justice Amy Coney Barrett has described marriage as among “fundamental rights” long recognised by precedent, while Justice Samuel Alito, though critical of the ruling, recently said he was not calling for it to be overruled. Public opinion has shifted as well: same-sex marriage now enjoys broad national support, and bipartisan legislation in 2022 required states to recognise such unions.

What happens if the court takes the case

It takes four justices to accept a petition, and experts say it is more likely the court will decline. A denial could come as early as Monday. If they take it, the justices would be signalling a readiness to test the stability of a major social-rights precedent, setting up a slow-moving case that may take years to resolve and reopening fears of a patchwork of conflicting state laws.

Why this petition matters even if it fails

The case highlights the tension between religious-liberty claims and LGBTQ civil rights, a frontier that continues to generate litigation nationwide. Davis’s loss in the lower courts underscored that public officials cannot use personal beliefs to deny citizens constitutional protections. Even if the Supreme Court declines to hear the case, the fact that the petition reached this point reflects the unsettled politics of equality a decade after marriage equality became the law of the land.