Kentucky county clerk jailed on contempt charges until she agrees to issue same-sex marriage licenses

[AUDub 11,147]

Welp

Kim Davis, the defiant Kentucky county clerk, was found in contempt of court and taken into federal custody.

U.S. District Court Judge David Bunning ordered Davis, the Rowan County clerk, to be jailed on the contempt charges until she agrees to comply with multiple court orders to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

The judge ordered her held indefinitely because he did not believe fines would be enough to compel her to follow the law because he suspected her supporters would pay those penalties.

Her office refused to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple as recently as Thursday morning, before Davis and her staff closed the office made the half-hour trip from Morehead to Ashland.

In the meantime, one of the six deputy clerks must issue marriage licenses to all couples. They were given a half hour to decide whether to comply with the order or join their boss in jail.

The Rowan County attorney said in an interview that the deputy clerks would have issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples but were too afraid of her to disagree.

“Davis is acting alone in her zealous mission,” wrote Shannon Ragland, of the Kentucky Trial Court Review. “Her conduct has terrorized not just her staff but everyone that works in the courthouse. And all for a foolish mission aided by out-of-state charlatan lawyers trying to raise money for their ‘religious liberty’ mission.”

Davis, an elected official and Democrat, has argued that she should be exempt from following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges because she objects to same-sex marriage for religious reasons.

Two other clerks, Casey Davis of Casey County and Kay Schwartz of Whitley County, are also still refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

She had asked the judge to delay his ruling until the Kentucky state legislature, which won’t be in session again until January, can pass legislation that would exempt her and other clerks who don’t wish to follow the law.

Gov. Steve Beshear, who leaves office at the end of this year, has said he will not call a special session on the matter because it’s a waste of taxpayer money.

But Kentucky’s Republican Senate president said the Supreme Court ruling in June invalidates nearly all of the state’s laws governing marriage and the process for obtaining a marriage license.

“The General Assembly will be compelled to amend many sections of Kentucky law, not just for the issuance of marriage licenses, to comply with the recent Supreme Court decision,” said Robert Stivers, the Senate president from Manchester.

Four couples have sued Davis, and they asked the federal judge to punish the county clerk by imposing fines against her, saying that she continues to draw a taxpayer-funded salary “for duties she fails to perform.”

Her attorney from the conservative Liberty Counsel argued Wednesday that Bunning should not punish her for disobeying his order because issuing a marriage license to a same-sex couple would “irreparably and irreversibly violate her conscience.”

“It is not as if Kim Davis the individual stops existing while Kim Davis is performing her duties as Rowan County clerk,” argued attorney Jonathan Christman.

Her attorneys argued that Davis should escape punishment for now because she has an appeal pending on a related issue, and they also argued that she has a right to a jury trial to determine whether she should be punished.

However, the top federal prosecutor in Eastern Kentucky said it was time for Davis “to follow the law,” arguing that she had presented her arguments “through the federal court system, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court,” and lost each time.

“Government officials are free to disagree with the law, but not disobey it,” said U.S. Attorney Kerry Harvey in a statement.

Legal experts said it was unusual for a U.S. attorney to speak out on a case that does not involve his office, but they said federal prosecutors have a “vested interest in having federal court litigants comply with court orders.”

Bunning, the son of former U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY), was appointed to the federal bench by former President George W. Bush and confirmed by the Senate in 2002.

Davis has been divorced three times and married four times, including twice to the same man — who adopted her twins born out of wedlock as the result of an extramarital affair.

The scofflaw clerk challenged critics of her “sordid past” to seek forgiveness for their own sins and become a Christian like she did four years ago.

Hate that it's come to this, but she doesn't have a legal leg to stand on.

[AURaptor 1,122]

Guess she'll be there for a while. She can't be fired and can only be removed from office via a recall election, as I hear it.

Think she'll be treated like Rosa Parks ?

[AUDub 11,147]

Guess she'll be there for a while. She can't be fired and can only be removed from office via a recall election, as I hear it.

Think she'll be treated like Rosa Parks ?

Maybe by the nutters on the right.

[Mims44 1,867]

Guess she'll be there for a while. She can't be fired and can only be removed from office via a recall election, as I hear it.

Think she'll be treated like Rosa Parks ?

That's the first thing I thought of.... can't they just fire her.

How hard is it to just have an emergency fill in while they wait for a new election?

[AURaptor 1,122]

Guess she'll be there for a while. She can't be fired and can only be removed from office via a recall election, as I hear it.

Think she'll be treated like Rosa Parks ?

Maybe by the nutters on the right.

I hear she's s Democrat.

[AUDub 11,147]

Guess she'll be there for a while. She can't be fired and can only be removed from office via a recall election, as I hear it.

Think she'll be treated like Rosa Parks ?

That's the first thing I thought of.... can't they just fire her.

How hard is it to just have an emergency fill in while they wait for a new election?

Easy. Her deputies apparently do not like her and are issuing licenses now by order of the judge.

[AUDub 11,147]

Guess she'll be there for a while. She can't be fired and can only be removed from office via a recall election, as I hear it.

Think she'll be treated like Rosa Parks ?

Maybe by the nutters on the right.

I hear she's s Democrat.

Doesn't matter. Most of her support, including her representation from Liberty Council, is right wing.

[AURaptor 1,122]

Huckabee is on her side.

[AUDub 11,147]

Huckabee is on her side.

Ayuh, as is the rest of the American Taliban.

[autigeremt 6,599]

She should have resigned and found another line of work....but I admire her stance...even if it's wrong.

[DKW 86 7,419]

Davis has been divorced three times and married four times, including twice to the same man — who adopted her twins born out of wedlock as the result of an extramarital affair.

The scofflaw clerk challenged critics of her “sordid past” to seek forgiveness for their own sins and become a Christian like she did four years ago.

This woman spent her entire life making a mockery of the word and institution of marriage. And NOW, when it is very convenient for her to object and be found a zealot, she is now happy to defend "Marriage." I am sorry, i just dont buy it. In the Kim Kardashian 15 minutes of Fame/Infamy World we live in, i just find her objections too "convenient." Maybe, just maybe she needs to mature in Christ where she can 1) quit judging others 2) give out the grace and forgiveness she is supposed to have, but is not acting like, she found. She has ZERO Legal Case.

I apologize to others watching this. Christians are supposed to be able to show compassion and love for all of the folks, not just the ones we like.

[AURaptor 1,122]

Huckabee is on her side.

Ayuh, as is the rest of the American Taliban.

There is no such thing

[telling tiger 156]

You're right, so I call it the tea billy Taliban, as un-American as it can be.

[penguin149 391]

KY Attorney General Jack Conway refused to enforce the law prior the recent SCOTUS decision and Gov. Steve Beshear spent $200,000 for someone else to do that job...no jail time for Conway. Current WH Administration refused to enforce DMA...no jail time. This seems like a waste of resources.

[TexasTiger 12,833]

KY Attorney General Jack Conway refused to enforce the law prior the recent SCOTUS decision and Gov. Steve Beshear spent $200,000 for someone else to do that job...no jail time for Conway. Current WH Administration refused to enforce DMA...no jail time. This seems like a waste of resources.

y

any of them deny a court order?

[telling tiger 156]

Did any of those people refuse a direct court order? She is exactly where she needs to be. She has wasted quite a lot herself. Like the tax dollars ALL citizens pay for her to do her job. She didn't do it and was still paid...

She can't have her own little private theocracy. No one can......

[autigeremt 6,599]

Did any of those people refuse a direct court order? She is exactly where she needs to be. She has wasted quite a lot herself. Like the tax dollars ALL citizens pay for her to do her job. She didn't do it and was still paid...

She can't have her own little private theocracy. No one can......

^^^^^^^^^Sums up federal government over the last decade plus. Why not?

[telling tiger 156]

I generally enjoy when adults can identify different issues.

[autigeremt 6,599]

I generally enjoy when adults can identify different issues. ;)/>

Just comparative analysis.

[telling tiger 156]

In the opinion of some. ODS.

[japantiger 4,051]

Wow, lots of vitrol in here aimed at someone who holds a belief that until recently was just about everyone's view (including the current ass clown in the WH). It's a shame she's not an illegal alien felon...should could be on the street.

[homersapien 11,367]

Wow, lots of vitrol in here aimed at someone who holds a belief that until recently was just about everyone's view (including the current ass clown in the WH). It's a shame she's not an illegal alien felon...should could be on the street.

I just love ironic hypocrisy. It's the best kind!

[japantiger 4,051]

Well, he is an ass clown...tool, douche, asstard, poser, wanker, kardashian, ....pick the appropriate descriptor.

[TitanTiger 20,472]

Davis has been divorced three times and married four times, including twice to the same man — who adopted her twins born out of wedlock as the result of an extramarital affair.

The scofflaw clerk challenged critics of her “sordid past” to seek forgiveness for their own sins and become a Christian like she did four years ago.

This woman spent her entire life making a mockery of the word and institution of marriage. And NOW, when it is very convenient for her to object and be found a zealot, she is now happy to defend "Marriage." I am sorry, i just dont buy it. In the Kim Kardashian 15 minutes of Fame/Infamy World we live in, i just find her objections too "convenient." Maybe, just maybe she needs to mature in Christ where she can 1) quit judging others 2) give out the grace and forgiveness she is supposed to have, but is not acting like, she found. She has ZERO Legal Case.

I apologize to others watching this. Christians are supposed to be able to show compassion and love for all of the folks, not just the ones we like.

Let's check that a second though. The woman only became a Christian 4 years ago. All of her divorces were prior to that. It's hard to hold her accountable not adhering to a belief system that she didn't believe at the time.

That said, if it were me and I had deputies that would handle the licenses I objected to signing or providing, I'd simply let them do it.

[JoeBags7277 734]

If it means that much to you, resign in protest.

Many have defended her previous marital infidelity and divorces with the revelation that she converted to Christianity only 4 years ago, which to me begs the question: why is THIS the one tenet of Christianity she's decided must be defended above all else?