The drama continued in Kentucky as Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis was held in contempt of court by a U.S. federal judge on Sept. 3 and sent to jail.
On Aug. 31, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to not allow Davis to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples because of her religious beliefs.
Davis had argued that her Christian faith prevented her from recognizing such marriages—and continued to deny licenses to all couples despite the high court's decision.
"The court doesn't do this lightly," District Court Judge David Bunning said in ordering that she be taken into custody, Reuters reported.
Bunning added that his earlier injunction ordering Davis to issue marriage licenses applied to everyone and not just the four couples whose suit in July had accused Davis of not doing her job.
It was not immediately known which detention facility would house Davis.
The Reuters item is at www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/03/us-usa-gaymarriage-kentucky-idUSKCN0R13S220150903 .
Press release from HRC:
WASHINGTON — Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, responded to the news that Kentucky's Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis has been found in contempt of court for her refusal to follow a federal court order directing her to begin issuing marriage licenses to all qualified same-sex and opposite-sex couples.
"Government employees swear an oath to uphold the Constitution, which the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled protects the fundamental right of all Americans to marry the person they love," said HRC President Chad Griffin. "Since then, all across the nation, thousands of LGBT couples have rejoiced in marriage without incident. As a government employee, Kim Davis certainly has a right to her personal views, but she is not above the law or the principles enshrined in our Constitution."
On August 12, U.S. District Judge David Bunning ordered Davis to immediately resume issuing marriage licenses, although he later temporarily stayed his order as Davis appealed his decision to not grant an emergency stay to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit — which declined her request on August 26. Davis then sought an emergency stay from the Supreme Court of the United States, which also denied her request on Monday night — the same day Judge Bunning's original stay on the order expired.
"This situation absolutely didn't have to happen, if only Kim Davis followed the law," added HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow. "Same-sex couples in Rowan County have a constitutional right to marry the person they love in the place they call home, and they've shamefully, repeatedly been prevented from exercising that right. The time has now come for the staff in the Rowan County Clerk's office to follow the law and immediately begin issuing those couples their long overdue marriage licences."
Even after the stay expired, Davis repeatedly defied the court and, citing "God's authority," refused to allow any licenses to be issued by her office.
Davis continues to be advised and represented by the vehemently anti-LGBT Liberty Counsel.
The Human Rights Campaign is America's largest organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. HRC envisions a world where LGBT people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.
Statement from ACLU:
ASHLAND, Ky. — A Kentucky federal district court will hold a contempt hearing Thursday to determine whether Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis is in violation of a court order that requires her to issue marriage licenses to couples in the case Miller v. Davis. A press conference will be held following the hearing.
The American Civil Liberties Union, representing the plaintiffs in the case, will argue that Davis should be held accountable for her failure to uphold the law as a public official by continuing to refuse to issue marriage licenses to couples in Miller v. Davis and all eligible couples who seek to marry in Rowan County. The ACLU filed a motion this week asking the district court to hold Davis in contempt for violating its order requiring her to immediately begin issuing marriage licenses. A second motion asked the court to clarify that Davis must issue licenses to everybody, not just the four couples named in the case.
The oral arguments and press conference will be held at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky
Carl Perkins Federal Building, 1405 Greenup Avenue, Ashland, KY 41101 on Thursday, Sept. 3, 11 a.m.
press conference immediately following hearing with William Sharp, ACLU of Kentucky legal director and the plaintiff couples in Miller v. Davis
