The U.S. Supreme Court Monday turned down a much-watched case involving a county clerk who opposed same-sex marriage, although two of the justices criticized the U.S. legal system for suggesting Christians with traditional beliefs are bigots.
“By choosing to privilege a novel constitutional right over the religious liberty interests explicitly protected in the First Amendment, and by doing so undemocratically, the Court has created a problem that only it can fix,” Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in a four-page statement that was joined by Justice Samuel Alito.
The case involved Kim Davis, a Kentucky county clerk and a professing Christian who ordered her department in 2015 to stop issuing marriage licenses, shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
Although Davis’ order applied to all couples – and not just to same-sex couples – she was nevertheless sued by those who were refused licenses. Davis had requested an accommodation that did not require her name to be placed on the license of a same-sex couple, due to her strong Christian beliefs. (The state’s executive branch eventually honored her request.)
She lost in district court and at the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, and then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Liberty Counsel, which represented Davis, argued she had the legal right under Supreme Court precedent to stop…
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