Supreme Court declines to hear same-sex marriage challenge

by · UPI

Nov. 10 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear a challenge to same-sex marriage brought by Kentucky former county clerk Kim Davis Monday.

The challenge to the 2015 Obergefell vs. Hodges ruling was filed by Kim Davis, the former clerk of Rowan County, Ky., who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. She argued that it went against her religious beliefs.

Davis asked the court, which features a 6-3 conservative majority, to overturn Obergefell because the decision was based on the 14th Amendment's due process clause. She claimed that was "legal fiction." She also said a decision against her that forced her to pay damages to a couple who was denied a license violated her First Amendment right to free exercise of religion.

David Ermold and David Moore were refused a license and sued. The case found that Davis had violated a judge's order that required her to issue the license.

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Ermold and Moore won $100,000 in emotional distress damages from a jury, plus $260,000 in attorneys' fees.

"The Court should hold her to that representation," The Hill reported that the couple's lawyers wrote. "Reaching the question of whether to overrule Obergefell in the context of this case would also require the Court to first decide thorny questions about how such a ruling would affect Davis's liability."

There are now an estimated 823,000 married same-sex couples in the United States, according to the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law.

"There's good reason for the Supreme Court to deny review in this case rather than unsettle something so positive for couples, children, families, and the larger society as marriage equality," Mary Bonauto, a senior director with LGBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, said when Davis filed her appeal, USA Today reported.

James Obergefell, whose lawsuit led to the legalization of same-sex marriage, told CNN last week that he was "very concerned" about Davis' case.

"At this point, I do not trust the Supreme Court," he said.