Infamous County Clerk Brings Gay Marriage Fight to SCOTUS

Kim Davis, the former county clerk who was briefly jailed after refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses in Kentucky in 2015, is now bringing the same-sex marriage fight back to the Supreme Court. Davis is appealing the ruling ordering her to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to the gay couple involved in her original case, and is asking the Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell v Hodges, the landmark 2015 decision that legalized same-sex marriage across the US, ABC News reports. She's seen as one of the only people in the country with legal standing to do so, but legal experts see the bid as a long-shot, USA Today reports.

There's also the fact that the Respect for Marriage Act, passed with bipartisan support in 2022, requires that same-sex and interracial marriages be recognized in all US states. This is the first time Obergefell has been formally challenged, and the high court is expected to consider Davis' petition this fall during a private conference during which the justices will decide which cases to accept and add to their docket. If the justices decline to hear the case, the lower court ruling would stand. If they accept it, oral arguments could come by spring.