#obergefell-v-hodges

#obergefell-v-hodges

As SCOTUSblog reports, the justices will privately discuss Davis's petition on November 7. Davis, who was briefly jailed a decade ago after citing "God's authority" in refusing to issue licenses to a gay couple, is now asking the high court not only to reverse her loss in the lower courts but to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 decision that established a constitutional right to marry for same-sex couples nationwide.

If the Supreme Court reverses Obergefell and determines bans against marriage equality are not unconstitutional, states with laws protecting same-sex couples' right to marry would need to independently overturn their laws for it to be banned. Those with constitutional amendments protecting marriage equality would have to call a referendum vote to overturn them, and those protected by state Supreme Court rulings - the next highest authority after the U.S. Supreme Court -would need their state's court to agree to hear the case again.