Overview
- Without comment or noted dissents, the justices rejected Davis’s petition that sought both First Amendment immunity and reconsideration of Obergefell v. Hodges.
- The decision leaves intact a jury award of $100,000 to David Moore and David Ermold and more than $260,000 in attorneys’ fees, keeping Davis’s liability above $360,000.
- A unanimous 6th Circuit panel had ruled that Davis’s license denials were state action not protected by the First Amendment, and it said she waived any bid to overturn Obergefell.
- The dispute traces to Davis’s 2015 refusal to issue marriage licenses after Obergefell, her six-day jailing for contempt, and a subsequent Kentucky law removing clerks’ names from license forms.
- The Court’s refusal sets no new precedent and does not foreclose future challenges, while the Respect for Marriage Act provides a federal statutory safeguard for recognition of same-sex marriages.