Written by Don Byrd
[UPDATE 9/8: Kim Davis has been released from prison. Judge Bunning lifted the contempt order because deputy clerks in her office are issuing marriage licenses. He ordered her not to interfere with the continued issuance of marriage licenses.]
[UPDATE 9/3: Judge Bunning today found Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis in contempt of court and placed her in the custody of U.S. Marshals. The plaintiffs were requesting a fine and not an arrest, but the judge reportedly determined that financial sanctions would be insufficient to ensure that she follows the law.]
The saga of Kim Davis reaches a turning point today, one way or another. In defiance of a court order, the Rowan County (KY) Clerk has refused to issue marriage licenses due to her religious objection to same-sex marriage. She has seemingly run out of legal options for delaying the injunction against her. Now, a federal judge has ordered her, and her staff, to court this morning in response to the ACLU’s motion to find her in contempt of court.
Davis’s lawyers maintain that a reasonable accommodation can be reached, and is required by law, that would satisfy her, Kentucky marriage regulations, and the Supreme Court’s ruling in Obergefell, all while allowing Rowan County couples to get married in Rowan County. Maybe so.
In the meantime, this dispute has become a symbol for a much broader religious liberty argument over conscience rights. The nation’s attention is focused on one elected official’s religiously motivated stand-off with a federal court.
Today, the judge may have his say. Come back to this space for more when it happens.
