Written by Don Byrd
Embattled Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis has appealed to the 6th Circuit the injunction issued by the District Court requiring her not to interfere with the issuance of marriage licenses, as well as the contempt order which landed her in jail for six days for violating the injunction. Her lengthy brief cites religious liberty protections from both state and federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) laws.
Perhaps her most pointed argument is that the state’s substantial burden of her religious exercise was not the least restrictive way to provide marriage licenses to the plaintiffs as required by RFRA. Numerous means are available, her brief argues, that would provide such licenses without burdening her religious exercise, including removing references to her name in the license form, deputizing a neighboring clerk to issue licenses in Rowan County, and addressing the “entire marriage license scheme” legislatively.
Gov. Beshear has publicly stated that there are a “number of different ways” to change marriage licensing to achieve both. This statement debunks any compelling governmental interest in forcing Davis to violate her conscience, and serves as an admission that there are a number of available options for addressing marriage licenses in a way that alleviates Davis’ religious liberty concerns—one of which is currently now in place in Rowan County.
An injunction, she continues, should have waited until the political process had a chance to craft a solution. Plaintiffs will no doubt counter that they should not be forced to wait, or travel outside the county, to exercise their fundamental rights to marry.
Davis’ attorneys asked for an oral argument in the case. Stay tuned.
For more, see Holly Hollman’s column “What can we learn from Kentucky’s Rowan County Clerk?“and my earlier post, “Kentucky Dispute Shows Need for Thoughtful Marriage License Conversation.”
