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Kentucky clerk jailed over refusal to issue marriage licenses to gay couples Kentucky clerk jailed over refusal to issue marriage licenses to gay couples
(35 minutes later)
A county clerk in Kentucky who has refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples based on her religious beliefs has been held in contempt of court and ordered to jail. A federal judge has held a Kentucky county clerk who has refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses in contempt of court, saying her religious beliefs don’t supersede her mandate to comply with a court order.
US district judge David Bunning told Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis she would be jailed until she complied with his order to issue the licenses. Davis said “thank you” before she was led out of the courtroom by a US marshal. She was not in handcuffs. In a two-hour hearing that prompted a heated exchange outside the US district courthouse in Ashland between supporters and opponents of same-sex marriage, Judge David Bunning said Rowan County clerk Kim Rowan’s “good faith belief is simply not a viable defense in this civil contempt proceeding”.
Davis has refused to issue licenses to any couples, gay or straight, since the US supreme court in June ruled that same-sex couples have the right to marry under the US constitution.
Bunning ordered Davis – who, citing “God’s authority”, drew international headlines this week for her defiance of a supreme court order to issue marriage licenses – ordered her to be held indefinitely because a financial penalty would “simply be insufficient” to compel her to follow his order.
“You don’t strike me as someone who’s contentious,” Bunning said. “I simply [find that] making this contempt finding is necessary.”“You don’t strike me as someone who’s contentious,” Bunning said. “I simply [find that] making this contempt finding is necessary.”
He added: “Oaths mean things.”He added: “Oaths mean things.”
Davis has refused to issue licenses to any couples, gay or straight, since the US supreme court in June ruled that same-sex couples have the right to marry under the US constitution. Before being escorted out of the courtroom my US marshals, a stone-faced Davis, dressed in a long skirt and gray shirt, turned to Bunning and said: “Thank you, judge.”
The judge also told all five of her deputy clerks that they are free to issue licenses to all applicants, and also face fines or jail if they refuse to comply. He gave them a chance to meet with lawyers before returning to his courtroom to reveal their decisions.
Related: Kentucky clerk is one of three in county refusing to issue marriage licensesRelated: Kentucky clerk is one of three in county refusing to issue marriage licenses
As hundreds of protesters gathered at a courthouse ahead of the hearing, there was no sign of Davis, prompting speculation that she used a gated entrance in the rear to enter the courthouse. The order immediately prompted a fierce response outside the courtroom, where hundreds of protesters gathered ahead of the hearing. Hundreds of people chanted and screamed “Love won! Love won!” as word of the decision reached the crowds outside the federal courthouse.
About 100 people stood outside the US district court in Ashland on Thursday morning carrying signs that said: “Kim Davis does not speak for my religious beliefs” and “My gay friends pay taxes, which pay your rent.” Even presidential candidate Hillary Clinton weighed in on the news, tweeting that “officials should be held to their duty to uphold the law – end of story”.
Unlike Davis, her town of Morehead has “many churchgoers” who support equal rights, said Thomas Albert, 25, who waited in line to get a seat in the courtroom. Marriage equality is the law of the land. Officials should be held to their duty to uphold the law—end of story. https://t.co/9WfxgULBga
“Being a Morehead citizen and a taxpayer, I think it’s important she does her job,” Albert told the Guardian. Four couples filed a federal lawsuit in July challenging Davis’s office policy not to issue licenses and Bunning in August ruled for the couples, finding that Davis had to live up to her official duties as a county clerk despite her religious beliefs.
Across the street, a pair of middle-aged men took turns speaking out against homosexuality and shouting Bible verses at the crowd through a public-address system.
Lawyers for Kim Davis, the elected Rowan County clerk who is an Apostolic Christian, on Wednesday asked Bunning to temporarily block his order requiring her to issue marriage licenses while she appeals the issue.
Four couples filed a federal lawsuit in July challenging her office policy not to issue licenses and Bunning in August ruled for the couples, finding that Davis had to live up to her official duties as a county clerk despite her religious beliefs.
Davis has appealed against his order to the US court of appeals for the sixth circuit, which turned down her request for a stay pending appeal last week. The US supreme court on Monday also turned down her request for an emergency stay.Davis has appealed against his order to the US court of appeals for the sixth circuit, which turned down her request for a stay pending appeal last week. The US supreme court on Monday also turned down her request for an emergency stay.
Davis has refused since the supreme court order this week to issue marriage licenses and same-sex couples on Tuesday filed a motion asking Bunning to hold her in contempt of court, seeking fines but no jail time.
“To me this has never been a gay or lesbian issue,” Davis said in a statement this week. “It is about marriage and God’s word. It is a matter of religious liberty.““To me this has never been a gay or lesbian issue,” Davis said in a statement this week. “It is about marriage and God’s word. It is a matter of religious liberty.“
The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, which represents the couples seeking the contempt order, said on Tuesday the law is clear. “The duty of public officials is to enforce the law, not place themselves above it,” it said. The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, which represents the couples who filed the original contempt order, said on Tuesday the law is clear. “The duty of public officials is to enforce the law, not place themselves above it,” it said.
Related: Kentucky clerk denying licenses to gay couples has married four timesRelated: Kentucky clerk denying licenses to gay couples has married four times
Davis is represented by Liberty Counsel, a Florida-based Christian religious advocacy organization, which said in court papers on Wednesday an injunction would halt the “irreversible implications on Davis’ conscience” while she appeals the case. In court on Thursday, Bunning cycled through a series of motions filed in recent days by Davis’s attorneys from the Christian nonprofit Liberty Counsel, before addressing the contempt motion filed this week by the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky.
Kentucky governor Steve Beshear, a Democrat, ordered all county clerks to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, but has no authority over Davis’ office. The 49-year-old clerk took the stand to argue why she shouldn’t be held in contempt of court. It was, her attorneys argued, a “factually impossible” order.
Davis’s attorney Roger Gannam asked the clerk for her definition of marriage. “Marriage is a union between one man and one woman,” she said.
Asked if she was capable of believing otherwise, Davis said: “No.”
Bunning wasn’t swayed. After listening to testimony from Morehead resident April Miller, one of the plaintiffs in the case, he said: “The court finds that the plaintiffs have established that [Davis] has and will continue to disobey this court’s order.
“She’s failed to establish factually why she can’t comply,” he said, adding her sincerely held beliefs fail to demonstrate a “factual impossibility”.
Davis is represented by Liberty Counsel, a Christian religious advocacy organization, which said in court papers on Wednesday an injunction would halt the “irreversible implications on Davis’ conscience” while she appeals the case.
Kentucky governor Steve Beshear, a Democrat, ordered all county clerks to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, but has no authority over Davis’s office.
Before the hearing on Thursday morning, about 100 people stood outside the US district court in Ashland carrying signs that said “Kim Davis does not speak for my religious beliefs” and “My gay friends pay taxes, which pay your rent”.
Unlike Davis, her town of Morehead has “many churchgoers” who support equal rights, said Thomas Albert, 25, who waited in line to get a seat in the courtroom.
“Being a Morehead citizen and a taxpayer, I think it’s important she does her job,” Albert told the Guardian.
Across the street, a pair of middle-aged men took turns speaking out against homosexuality and shouting Bible verses at the crowd through a public-address system.