The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, November 10, 2025, declined without comment to hear former Kentucky clerk Kim Davis’s petition seeking to revisit Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 ruling that legalized same‑sex marriage nationwide. Davis had asked the justices to relieve her of more than $360,000 in combined damages and legal fees stemming from her refusal to issue marriage licenses to a same‑sex couple and to revisit Obergefell; the Court denied review and issued no noted dissents.
Kim Davis, the former Rowan County, Kentucky, clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same‑sex couples after Obergefell, was briefly jailed for contempt in 2015 and later sued by David Ermold and David Moore. A jury awarded the couple $100,000 in damages, and a judge subsequently ordered Davis to pay more than $260,000 in attorneys’ fees and expenses, bringing the total above $360,000. Reuters and the Associated Press report that Davis’s latest petition asked the Supreme Court to wipe out those monetary awards and revisit Obergefell; the justices declined on November 10 without explanation. (reuters.com)
In the lower courts, Davis argued that the First Amendment protected her from liability and that she was entitled to immunity. Federal courts rejected those claims, with the Sixth Circuit affirming in March 2025 and later denying rehearing; the Supreme Court docket reflects those dates. The appeals court also said Davis had waived any argument for overturning Obergefell by raising it too late. (law.justia.com)
Monday’s order contained no opinions or recorded dissents, a contrast with 2020, when Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito issued a statement criticizing Obergefell as the Court declined an earlier Davis appeal. No justice publicly dissented this time. (law.cornell.edu)
Liberty Counsel’s founder, Mat Staver, said his group would continue pressing to overturn Obergefell: “We will continue to work to get a case to the high court to overturn Obergefell.” (reuters.com)
The Human Rights Campaign praised the outcome. “Today, love won again,” said HRC President Kelley Robinson, adding that public officials’ oaths extend to LGBTQ+ people. (Statement reported by multiple outlets.) (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
Davis’s filing also sought to frame her 2015 incarceration as singular, asserting in the petition that “the first individual who was thrown in jail post‑Obergefell for seeking accommodation for her religious beliefs” deserved Supreme Court review. (lc.org)
Several conservative justices have in recent weeks distinguished Obergefell from abortion precedent on stare decisis grounds. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, in an October interview, said Obergefell has “very concrete reliance interests,” suggesting disruption if it were undone. (newsweek.com)
Even if Obergefell were ever reversed, the Respect for Marriage Act—signed by President Joe Biden in December 2022—requires federal recognition of valid same‑sex marriages and obliges states to recognize marriages performed where lawful, though it does not require every state to issue new licenses if the Supreme Court allowed states to restrict them again. (congress.gov)
