The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday that it will not hear the appeal of former Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, the onetime county official who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the landmark 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges.Keep up with the latest in LGBTQ+ news and politics. Sign up for The Advocate's email newsletter.By denying review, the Court let stand lower-court rulings that found Davis personally liable for violating the constitutional rights of same-sex couples she refused to serve after Obergefell was decided. The move leaves marriage equality intact, marking a quiet but significant moment in a decade-long legal battle over the scope of religious exemptions in public office.Related: Breaking: U.S. Supreme Court to consider whether to revisit marriage equalityDavis, who rose to prominence for her defiance of the 2015 ruling, had asked the Court to revisit not only her liability but Obergefell itself. GLAD Law legal director Josh Rovenger, whose organization helped argue the original case, said the petition was always unlikely to succeed. It would really be anomalous for the Court to take a case with such a narrow fact pattern and use it to revisit Obergefell, Rovenger told The Advocate before the court's announcement.He described the legal questions in Daviss appeal about emotional-distress damages and qualified immunity as technical and disconnected from the broader constitutional right at issue. Even so, Rovenger said advocates had remained prepared: Were ready for all possibilities, he said.Related: Jim Obergefell warns, People should be concerned about Supreme Court considering marriage equality caseFor Jim Obergefell, whose case made history nearly a decade ago, the Courts refusal to hear Daviss appeal is cause for relief but not complacency. Theyve turned the idea of freedom on its head, he told The Advocate ahead of the announcement. Unless we stand up for what it truly means, we risk losing the very promise of equality itself."This is a developing story.