Who is Kim Davis? Kentucky Clerk Seeks to Overturn Same-Sex Marriage Ruling
Speculation of whether the U.S. Supreme Court will take a case to overturn same-sex marriage at the federal level is mounting after embattled Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis pushed the effort as far up the legal chain as possible.
Davis' attorney, Matthew Staver, previously told Newsweek he is optimistic the court will again rule on Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark case that guaranteed the right to same-sex marriage nationwide. William Powell, the attorney who represented the couple that sued Davis, previously wrote in a statement provided to Newsweek that he is "confident the Supreme Court will likewise agree that Davis' arguments do not merit further attention."
Why It Matters
Obergefell v. Hodges, as part of a 5-4 Supreme Court ruling in June 2015, guaranteed that same-sex couples can marry by the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution. Prior the Court's ruling, equal rights and protections for same-sex marriage was already established in 36 states by statutes, court rulings, or voter initiatives.
Davis made national headlines just two months after the Obergefell v. Hodges decision when she defied a U.S. federal court order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. After being elected clerk of Rowan County, Kentucky, in 2014, she was defeated by Democratic challenger Elwood Caudill Jr. in 2018.
What To Know
Where is Kim Davis From?
Davis was born in September 1965 in Morehead, Kentucky.
As of 1991, she served as chief deputy clerk of Rowan County, Kentucky, reporting to her mother, Rowan County Clerk Jean W. Bailey.
In 2014, when Bailey didn't run for reelection, Davis filed as a Democrat and defeated Elwood Caudill Jr., then a deputy clerk in the Rowan County property valuation administrator's office, by 23 votes in the party primary. In the general election, she defeated Republican John Cox, who implied nepotism was at play in the results.
Who is Dwain Allen Wallace?
Dwain Allen Wallace was Kim Davis' first husband. They wed in the 1980s when she was 18 years old, according to CBS News. The couple divorced in 1994, with facts coming out later showing Davis's infidelity and court records indicating she had given birth to two children in 1994 with another man.
Davis' Marital History: How Many Times Has She Been Married?
Davis has been married four times to three different men.
In 1996, Kim Davis married Joe Davis for the first of two eventual marriage ceremonies. They divorced in 2006.
The next year, at age 40, Davis married Thomas McIntryre, but that union lasted less than one year.
By 2009, she re-married Joe Davis, who told CBS News in September 2015 that he and Kim had been together 19 years but declined to say how much of that time was spent while married.
"Four and a half years ago, Kim Davis was a completely different person," Davis' attorney, Matthew Staver, told CBS News at the time. "She made a lot of mistakes. She regrets many of the decisions that she made, and she loves the Lord, and she doesn't want to be disobedient."
What People Are Saying
Eric Subin, trial attorney, in an email to Newsweek: "As a preliminary matter, it is extremely unlikely that the Supreme Court will grant the writ of certiorari and even hear the case at all. In fact, the Supreme Court grants less than 1 percent of all of the writs of certiorari filed each year.
"Since there is a well-established principle that public officials acting under color of state law, as Kim Davis was in this case, are not shielded from liability by the First Amendment there is virtually no compelling legal reason to grant the petition. Even in the very unlikely event that the Supreme Court did grant the petition, it is again extremely unlikely that Davis would prevail on the merits. In order for her to succeed, the Supreme Court would have to completely upend longstanding First Amendment doctrine as well as overturn established precedent."
Kenneth Gordon, a specialist in marital and family law and partner at Brinkley Morgan, in an email to Newsweek: "From a purely legal standpoint, overturning Obergefell v. Hodges would present significant complications. While it is unlikely that existing same-sex marriages would be invalidated, particularly given the protections of the 2022 Respect for Marriage Act, states could regain the authority to limit or prohibit future marriage licenses to same-sex couples. That would create a patchwork of laws across the country, where a couple could be legally married in one state but not recognized as married if they moved to or even visited another state.
"The legal ripple effects could be substantial. Family law issues such as adoption, parental rights, inheritance, health care decision-making, and property division all rely on the legal status of marriage. Without uniform recognition, couples could face uncertainty in areas like custody determinations, enforcement of spousal rights in medical emergencies, or the ability to inherit from a spouse without additional legal steps."
Freedom From Religion Foundation, on X: "Concerned about the 'sanctity' of marriage? Gay male couples actually divorce less than straight couples. But, Kim Davis's four marriages are really helping to skew the numbers in their favor."
Congressional Equality Caucus, on X: "Kim Davis—who illegally denied same-sex couples marriage licenses—asked SCOTUS to overturn marriage equality as she seeks to avoid paying damages to those whose rights she violated. The Justices should not take this case, because marriage equality should NOT be up for debate."
What Happens Next
While the Supreme Court could make a decision about whether to accept Davis' case in the coming months, there's been no indication about whether it intends to do so.