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Kim Davis Petitions Supreme Court to Overturn Obergefell and Erase $360,000 Damages

A free-exercise challenge to personal liability under substantive-due-process doctrine seeks to gauge a conservative Supreme Court’s appetite for revisiting marriage equality

Overview

  • Davis filed a petition for a writ of certiorari in July asking justices to reverse the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling and eliminate roughly $360,000 in damages and fees she owes for denying same-sex marriage licenses
  • Her appeal brands Obergefell’s substantive-due-process basis a “legal fiction” and contends that First Amendment free-exercise protections shield her from state-imposed liability
  • A three-judge Sixth Circuit panel unanimously ruled that public officials cannot use the Free Exercise Clause to avoid personal liability when carrying out or refusing official duties
  • Legal experts say the petition faces steep procedural and doctrinal hurdles but acknowledge that the Court’s conservative majority and prior calls to revisit substantive-due-process precedents could influence whether certiorari is granted
  • Congress’s 2022 Respect for Marriage Act and strong public support for same-sex marriage would preserve existing unions even if the Court modifies or limits Obergefell