WASHINGTON, D.C – The U.S. Supreme Court has slated Davis v. Ermold, a case challenging the Obergefell “marriage” opinion, for conference on November 7, 2025. At this conference, the High Court could decide to take the case which has the potential to overturn the wrongly decided Obergefell opinion and return the “same-sex marriage” issue back to the states. 

While SCOTUS could grant review of the case, it could also choose to decline it and leave the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decision stand holding former Rowan County Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis personally liable for upholding her religious views on marriage, or it could redistribute the case to a later conference for further review. The conferences are privately held meetings attended only by the nine justices. Davis v. Ermold needs four votes from the justices in favor of granting review for the High Court to hear the case.

Any decision from the Court could be announced as early as November 10.  

On October 22, 2025, Liberty Counsel filed a reply brief to SCOTUS on behalf of Davis who was the first victim jailed, sued, and held personally liable post-Obergefell for her sincerely held religious beliefs on marriage. The case presents to the High Court two questions: (1) whether the First Amendment is an affirmative defense to a government official sued in her individual capacity where the claim is for emotional distress allegedly resulting in hurt feelings connected to religious expression, and (2) whether the Obergefell opinion was wrongly decided and should be overturned.

Davis temporarily ceased issuing any marriage licenses from June 29, 2015 to early September 2015 after the Obergefell opinion shredded state marriage laws. She ceased issuing all marriage licenses so not to discriminate against anyone while she sought an accommodation under the First Amendment for her religious beliefs. But two sets of plaintiffs, including David Ermold and David Moore, sought to mock Davis’ Christian faith by forcing her name on their marriage license through litigation. Their attempt failed when Gov. Steven Beshear agreed that altered licenses without Davis’ name were valid. From early September onward, licenses were issued without Davis’ name on them. In December 2015, newly elected Governor Matt Bevin issued an executive order granting the accommodation Davis sought. Then in April 2016, the Kentucky legislature unanimously codified the religious exemption by removing the names of all clerks from the state’s marriage licenses.

However, the courts used Obergefell to initially deny Davis a religious accommodation, took away her liberty with six days in jail, and levied $360,000 against her personally for a same-sex couple’s “hurt feelings” because they did not get a marriage license with Davis’ name on it.

Therefore, Liberty Counsel is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to settle the unique question of whether a government official—stripped of Eleventh Amendment immunity and sued in her personal capacity for emotional distress—may raise the First Amendment as a defense like any other citizen.

Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “After 10 years of litigation, the November 7 conference provides the U.S. Supreme Court a chance to consider how the Obergefell v. Hodges opinion, like the abortion decision in Roe v. Wade, was egregiously wrong from the start. Obergefell cannot override the First Amendment to send someone to jail for their religious beliefs on marriage, and it certainly does not establish a right to obtain a marriage license with a specific clerk’s name on it. Davis’ case underscores why the U.S. Supreme Court should overturn the wrongly decided Obergefell opinion because it threatens the religious liberty of Americans who believe that marriage is a sacred union between one man and one woman. This opinion has no basis in the Constitution. The High Court should overturn this egregious opinion from 2015.”

For more information, visit Liberty Counsel’s website here.

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