After 10 years Kentucky’s Kim Davis continues to fight same-sex marriage

FRANKFORT, Ky. (FOX 56) — On Thursday, the Liberty Counsel announced it was asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case against Kim Davis and the Obergefell decision, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

In 2024, a federal judge denied an appeal from the former Rowan County clerk after a federal jury decided Davis owed David Ermold and David Moore $50,000 each in damages. In October 2023, Ermold and Moore’s legal team requested payment of legal fees; the court awarded $246,026.40 in attorney’s fees and $14,058.30 in expenses.

The Liberty Counsel, a religious liberty organization, is now hoping to get Davis’s case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. Along with appealing Davis v. Ermold, the Liberty Counsel hopes the court will overturn Obergefell v. Hodges.

“Liberty Counsel’s petition opens by citing several dissenting Justices from the 5-4 Obergefell opinion who predicted it would threaten the religious liberty of those who believe that marriage is a sacred institution between one man and one woman. Notably, Justice Clarence Thomas said that Obergefell would have ‘potentially ruinous consequences for religious liberty,'” reads a Liberty Counsel news release.

If taken up, the Liberty Counsel will ask the Supreme Court three questions.

1. Whether the First Amendment Free Exercise Clause provides an affirmative defense to tort liability based solely on emotional distress damages with no actual damages in the same manner as the Free Speech Clause under Snyder v. Phelps, 562 U.S. 443 (2011).
2. Whether a government official stripped of Eleventh Amendment immunity and sued in her individual capacity based solely on emotional distress damages with no actual damages is entitled to assert individual capacity and personal First Amendment defenses in the same or similar manner as any other individual defendant like in Synder v. Phelps, 562 U.S. 443 (2011), or does she stand before this Court with no constitutional defenses or immunity whatsoever.
3. Whether Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015), and the legal fiction of substantive due process, should be overturned.

“Kim Davis’ case underscores why the U.S. Supreme Court should overturn the wrongly decided Obergefell v. Hodges opinionbecauseit threatens the religious liberty of Americans who believe that marriage is a sacred union between one man and one woman. A person cannot stand before the court utterly defenseless while facing claims of emotional distress for her views on marriage. Yet, that is the result of Obergefell, which led these courts to strip Davis of any personal First Amendment defense. Obergefell cannot just push the First Amendment aside to punish individuals for their beliefs about marriage. The First Amendment precludes making the choice between your faith and your livelihood. The High Court now has the opportunity to finally overturn this egregious opinion from 2015.”
Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver

A survey of Republicans released by The Hill in June found 56% of respondents said they agree that same-sex couples should have the right to marry each other, while 42% disagreed. According to The Hill, Americans broadly agree that same-sex couples should have the right to marry, with 72% of respondents agreeing and 26% disagreeing.

Also in June, Southern Baptists overwhelmingly endorsed a ban on gay marriage—including a call for a reversal of Obergefell.

Liberty Counsel’s full petition can be viewed online.