Kim Davis, the former Kentucky county clerk who became a lightning rod for religious freedom debates, is back with a bold bid to upend a decade-old Supreme Court ruling.
The Hill reported that Davis is asking the nation’s highest court to reconsider the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision that legalized same-sex marriage across the country, while also challenging a recent federal appeals court ruling against her.
Let’s rewind to 2015, when Davis made headlines by refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, citing her deeply held beliefs as a born-again Christian.
Her stand landed her in jail briefly that year, after she denied a license to David Ermold and David Moore, claiming it clashed with “God’s definition of marriage.”
Fast forward to a federal jury in 2023, which awarded the couple $100,000 in damages, followed by a judge ordering Davis to pay an additional $260,000 in legal fees the next year.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld those rulings in March 2025, stating Davis couldn’t hide behind First Amendment protections since her actions represented state conduct.
Undeterred, Davis’s legal team at Liberty Counsel filed a hefty 90-page petition to the Supreme Court, not just to overturn the appeals court decision but to dismantle Obergefell itself.
Mat Staver, Liberty Counsel’s founder, declared, “Kim Davis’ case underscores why Obergefell threatens religious liberty for those who view marriage as a sacred, one-man-one-woman union.
Well, that’s a fiery take, but it sidesteps the reality that national support for marriage equality remains at historic highs, even if Republican backing has dipped to 41% per a recent Gallup poll.
Liberty Counsel argues Obergefell rests on shaky legal ground, akin to the overturned Roe v. Wade, and should be revisited for overreaching on substantive due process.
Interestingly, the Supreme Court declined to hear Davis’s case back in 2020, though Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito voiced lingering objections to the same-sex marriage precedent.
Justice Thomas, joined by Alito, warned that “due to Obergefell, those with sincerely held religious beliefs” face growing societal exclusion. That’s a sobering point, yet one wonders if it fully grapples with the 56% of Republicans who, per a recent survey, actually support marriage equality.
On the flip side, Bill Powell, counsel for Ermold and Moore, confidently stated, “Not a single judge” showed interest in revisiting Davis’s claims. That’s a sharp jab, though it might underestimate the cultural fault lines still simmering beneath this debate.
Davis’s latest appeal doesn’t stand alone—it’s buoyed by calls from some Republican lawmakers and a recent Southern Baptist resolution to reverse Obergefell and ban same-sex marriage.
Yet, with public opinion leaning heavily toward acceptance, this push feels like swimming against a strong current, even if it resonates with a significant conservative base.
At its core, Davis’s decade-long battle raises a thorny question: where does religious liberty end and constitutional rights begin?
Her case may not topple Obergefell, but it’s a stark reminder that the culture wars are far from over, and the Supreme Court remains the ultimate battleground for these deeply personal convictions.