The Supreme Court is set to discuss an appeal from former Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, which seeks to overturn the 2015 decision legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide, a move advocated by Justice Clarence Thomas.
The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hold a closed-door conference on Friday to consider an appeal from Kim Davis, the former Kentucky court clerk who famously refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling. Davis is challenging a lower court order requiring her to pay $360,000 in damages and fees to a couple she denied a license. Her lawyers are urging the court to take her case, citing Justice Clarence Thomas, the only current justice who has explicitly called for overturning the same-sex marriage decision. Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito also dissented in 2015, though Alito recently stated he is not advocating for the ruling's overturn. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, while open to correcting past mistakes, has suggested same-sex marriage might differ from abortion due to people's reliance on the decision. Davis's actions in Rowan County gained national attention, leading to her jailing for contempt before a state law was enacted to remove clerks' names from marriage licenses. The justices could announce their decision on her appeal as early as Monday.
