Ky. clerk's office will issue marriage licenses Friday — without the clerk

Mike Wynn and Chris Kenning | The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption With KY clerk in jail, gay couple gets marriage license As Kim Davis, the Rowan County, Kentucky clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples sits in jail, a gay couple received a license from a deputy clerk.

ASHLAND, Ky. — Five of six deputies in the office of a Kentucky county clerk jailed Thursday for her refusal to issue marriage licenses after the Supreme Court allowed gays to wed say they will process the paperwork starting Friday.

But Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, whom U.S. District Court Judge David Bunning found in contempt of court, said through her lawyers that she will not authorize any of her employees to issue licenses in her absence. The judge placed her in the custody of U.S. marshals and had her taken to Carter County jail.

"My conscience will not allow it," Davis said earlier to Bunning. "God's moral law convicts me and conflicts with my duties."

5 things to know about KY clerk Kim Davis' case Rowan County, Kentucky clerk Kim Davis was arrested after being found in contempt of court for defying a Supreme Court order to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.

At least two couples said they plan to get marriage licenses Friday at the Rowan County Clerk's Office, something no gay or straight couple has been able to do since late June.

“We are saddened by the fact that Mrs. Davis has been incarcerated,” said April Miller, who is seeking to wed her long-term partner, Karen Roberts. “We look forward to tomorrow. As a couple, it will be a very important day in our lives.”

Jody Fernandez, who also is among the couples suing Davis, said she was still in a daze and did not expect Bunning's actions but felt excited to move on. She also plans to head to the courthouse with her fiancé, Kevin Holloway, to get their marriage license.

Among Davis' deputies, the holdout was her son, Nathan Davis. Yet as the other deputy clerks individually answered Bunning's questions under oath, several had reservations in issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, partly based on religion and partly because of worries about their legal authority to sign forms without an elected official's consent.

Kim Davis' lawyers also called into question whether any licenses issued in her absence would be legal.

But Bunning said couples will have to decide whether to take that risk on their own.

He indicated that he would lift the contempt charge against the defiant county clerk if deputies began issuing marriage licenses but said he was reluctant to release Kim Davis on Friday because of the possibility that she would stop the process and again try to go through the courts in a sort of ping-pong match. He also warned Nathan Davis against interfering with same-sex couples getting marriage licenses.

Allowing Kim Davis, who previously has said she is an Apostolic Christian, to defy a court order could create a ripple effect among other county clerks, Bunning said. Two other clerks in the state — Casey Davis in Casey County and Kay Schwartz in Whitley County — also had stopped issuing marriage licenses but have not had lawsuits filed against them.

"Her good-faith belief is simply not a viable defense," said Bunning, who said he also has deeply held religious beliefs. "Oaths mean things."

Bunning's mother said her son, who was raised Roman Catholic, doesn't agree with the idea of same-sex marriage but does believe in upholding the law.

Kim Davis was tearful at times in her morning appearance before the judge but testified that she could not obey Bunning's order because God's law trumps the court.

Before she appeared in court Thursday, Kim Davis told The Kentucky Trial Court Review that she was prepared to go to jail.

“I would have to either make a decision to stand or I would have to buckle down and leave,” she told the monthly publication in a radio interview. “And if I left, resigned or chose to retire, I would have no voice for God’s word," calling herself a vessel that the Lord has chosen for this time and place.

She was elected as Rowan County clerk in November to replace her mother, who retired. As an elected official, Kim Davis cannot be fired, but the state Legislature can impeach her. That's unlikely in a state where many lawmakers agree with her position and won't meet in regular legislative session until January.

The office in her county of about 24,000 residents issued around 200 marriage licenses last year over about 300 business days.

As word of Kim Davis' arrest circulated outside the federal courthouse in a crowd that numbered more than 100 protesters, cheers and chants erupted.

"I'm glad the court sent a strong message that you have to follow the law," said Timothy Love of Kentucky, one of the plaintiffs in the Supreme Court case that legalized gay marriage.

Those supporting Kim Davis decried Bunning's decision with one man falling on the courthouse steps to pray.

"It's very unjust," said the Rev. Randy Smith of Morehead, Ky., where the Rowan County Clerk's Office is located. "Religious liberty has been trampled on today."

Roger Gannam, a lawyer with the Orlando-based Liberty Counsel that represents Kim Davis, said Bunning's decision shows that elected officials no longer have religious liberties in light of the Supreme Court ruling — and that private citizens are next.

“Today, for the first time in history, an American citizen has been incarcerated for having the belief of conscience that marriage is between one man and one woman,” he said to the crowd outside. “It’s unprecedented in American law, and it answers the question, 'What will same-sex marriage mean for people of faith?' "

But a lawyer for the couples who have sued her repeatedly said she holds the key to her own jail cell.

“She is not a martyr. No one created a martyr today," Laura Landenwich said. "Kim Davis had two opportunities to comply with the law, and she chose not to.”

Bunning agreed and said fines for Kim Davis, who makes $80,000 a year, would not be enough to ensure that she would follow his orders. He also raised concerns that supporters would pay any fine he levied, dampening its force.

"I don't do this lightly," he said of his decision to jail her. "It's necessary in this case."

The couples' lawyers had not requested jail time, only significant fines. Chris Hartman, head of the Fairness Campaign advocacy group, said he hoped that jailing Kim Davis would act as a strong deterrent for others who might refuse to follow the law.

Though the county clerk was tearful as she testified how she came to Christ in 2011 following the death of her mother-in-law, she appeared straight faced as marshals led her out of the courtroom.

Outside, each side continued to clash.

Ashley Hogue, a secretary from Ashland, held a sign outside the courthouse that read, "Kim Davis does not speak for my religious beliefs."

"This is so ugly," she said, wiping away tears. "I was unprepared for all the hate."

Demonstrator Charles Ramey, a retired steelworker, downplayed the vitriol.

"We don't hate these people," he said, holding a sign that read, "Give God his rights." "We wouldn't tell them how to get saved if we hated them."

Kim Davis has been resisting suggestions that her deputies issue the licenses because her name appears on the certificates. But the crux of the contempt case against her involves Kentucky law, which, unlike some states' laws, requires county clerks to issue marriage licenses.

When four couples — two gay and two straight — filed suit against her for refusing to issue marriage licenses after the June Supreme Court ruling, she argued that they could be served in other Kentucky counties. Bunning, son of GOP Sen. Jim Bunning who retired from the U.S. Senate in 2011, told her that she or her deputies must issue the licenses but stayed his order until this past Monday as she filed an appeal with the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.

When that stay expired, appeals court judges declined to renew it. And when she asked the Supreme Court to weigh in Monday, justices in Washington refused.

Kim Davis filed Wednesday for an injunction, but Bunning said he will not rule on that before Sept. 11.

"I hope that everyone will remain civil," Bunning said. "This country has always had disagreements, but what makes this country different from other countries is that we respect the rule of law."

Contributing: Scott Wartman, The Cincinnati Enquirer

Supporters of KY clerk, gay marriage debate on street Gay marriage and Kim Davis supporters rally outside of a Kentucky courthouse when the embattled Rowan County clerk faced a federal judge on contempt charges.

Timeline of dissent

Soon after the Supreme Court ruled to allow gays to marry, Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis decided to stop offering any marriage licenses through her office.

• June 26. Supreme Court rules 5-4 that states must recognize and allow same-sex marriage. Later that Friday, Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear directs county clerks to comply.

• June 29. Davis declines to issue marriage licenses on Monday, saying the new law of the land conflicts with her religious beliefs.

• July 2. American Civil Liberties Union sues Davis and Rowan County on behalf of four couples, two gay and two straight.

• July 8. Some county clerks ask for a special session of the Kentucky Legislature to pass a bill to accommodate those who have religious reasons for not issuing the licenses. Beshear says no, in part because of the expense.

• Aug. 12. U.S. District Judge David Bunning says Davis must issue licenses to same-sex couples.

• Aug. 27. The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals declines to grant Davis a stay of Bunning's decision.

• Sept. 1. The Supreme Court refuses to grant Davis a stay.

• Sept. 3. Davis is found in contempt of court and taken to jail.

