Kim Davis appeals $100K verdict, urges Supreme Court to revisit 2015 landmark gay marriage ruling

08/14/2025 / By Laura Harris

Former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis is appealing a $360,000 verdict against her for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples and is asking the Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
Davis claims her refusal was protected by the First Amendment’s free exercise clause and argues that marriage should be regulated by states, not mandated by federal courts.
The Supreme Court is expected to consider Davis’ petition in private this fall. If accepted, oral arguments could take place in spring 2026, with a decision by June.
At least nine states have introduced bills or resolutions this year seeking to overturn Obergefell or limit marriage to heterosexual couples, with conservative-led legislatures like Texas and Idaho leading the push.
In June, the Southern Baptist Convention overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling for the reversal of Obergefell, asserting that marriage should be defined as between one man and one woman and aligned with “natural law” and Scripture.

Kim Davis, the former Kentucky county clerk who gained national attention in 2015 for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, is seeking to overturn a $100,000 jury verdict and to use it as a vehicle to strike down Obergefell v. Hodges, the decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

In a petition for writ of certiorari filed last month, Davis is appealing a lower court’s ruling that found her personally liable for emotional damages and attorneys’ fees totaling $360,000. Her legal team, led by attorney Mathew Staver of the conservative legal group Liberty Counsel, argues that her refusal was constitutionally protected under the First Amendment’s guarantee of free exercise of religion.

Davis’ legal challenge goes beyond personal liability. Her petition calls Obergefell “egregiously wrong” and urges the Court to overturn it, echoing the court’s 2022 reversal of Roe v. Wade.

In that decision, Justice Clarence Thomas suggested that the court should also revisit other substantive due process rulings, including Obergefell. Her petition argues that the issue of marriage, like abortion, should be left to the states and not dictated by federal constitutional interpretation.

The Supreme Court is expected to privately consider Davis’ petition this fall as part of its routine docket review. If at least four justices vote to hear the case, oral arguments could be scheduled as soon as next spring, with a decision likely by the end of June 2026. (Related: Ermold v. Davis case could overturn Supreme Court same-sex marriage ruling.)

If the Court declines to take up the case, the lower court’s ruling will stand, leaving Obergefell intact, at least for now.

Call to overturn Obergefell growing louder

The petition comes at a time when some conservative lawmakers and advocacy groups are renewing efforts to return control over marriage laws to individual states.

According to legal advocacy group Lambda Legal, at least nine states have introduced legislation or resolutions this year calling on the Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell. Five of these states have introduced resolutions explicitly urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell, while four others have proposed redefining marriage in state law to apply only to heterosexual couples.

The names of the states introducing the measures have not all been publicly confirmed, but among them are conservative-led legislatures such as Texas and Idaho, where lawmakers have previously advanced anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. The bills vary in language, but most include calls for judicial reconsideration of Obergefell or express support for states’ rights to define marriage.

Adding fuel to the fire, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, passed a resolution in June making the reversal of Obergefell a top priority in its public policy agenda. Thousands of Southern Baptists overwhelmingly endorsed the resolution during the two-day annual convention at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, where more than 10,000 church representatives, or “messengers,” gathered.

The resolution, which passed without debate, urges lawmakers to pass laws that “reflect the truth of creation and natural law” and to oppose statutes that contradict “what God has made plain through nature and Scripture.” Among its key provisions, the resolution calls for “the overturning of laws and court rulings, including Obergefell v. Hodges, that defy God’s design for marriage and family,” and affirms marriage as “between one man and one woman.”

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Kim Davis appeals $100K verdict, urges Supreme Court to revisit 2015 landmark gay marriage ruling

Call to overturn Obergefell growing louder

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