WASHINGTON — Conservative Justice Samuel Alito on Friday said he is not seeking to overturn the Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage even as a case is pending asking the justices to do just that.
Alito made his remarks on the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges ruling, in which he dissented, as an aside in a speech at an academic conference in Washington in which he outlined his judicial philosophy.
“In commenting on Obergefell, I am not suggesting that the decision in that case should be overruled,” he said before repeating his criticisms of the decision.
In the decade since Obergefell was decided, Alito has continued to air his views of the majority’s reasoning that the Constitution’s 14th Amendment prohibits state bans on same-sex marriage.
During that period, the Supreme Court has shifted further to the right following the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy, who authored the ruling.
Alito wrote the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that rolled back abortion rights. That decision sparked concerns that the conservative majority might also overturn other precedents, including Obergefell.
But as Alito pointed out on Friday, he wrote in the abortion case that the ruling did not mean that other key decisions — including Obergefell — were in the firing line.
“As I said in my opinion for the court in Dobbs, more than once, nothing in Dobbs was meant to disturb that decision,” he added, referring to Obergefell.
Alito’s comments come as a long-shot appeal asking the court to overturn the same-sex marriage ruling is currently pending.
The case has been filed by Kim Davis, a former county clerk from Kentucky who made headlines after the ruling when she refused to issue a marriage license to a gay couple and was subsequently sued.
The justices are likely to discuss whether to hear the case sometime this fall.
