Deputy Clerks

Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis in Jail but Deputies Expected to Issue Same-Sex Marriage Licenses:

A Kentucky county clerk, Kim Davis, was jailed today after a judge found her in contempt of court for her refusal to issue same-sex marriage licenses, but five of her deputies said under oath they would comply with the court's order to issue the licenses.

U.S. District Judge David Bunning ruled against the Rowan County clerk before deputy marshals removed her from the courtroom this morning, and later said he expected the deputies to comply despite Davis' refusal to authorize them to do so.

This answers at least one question I raised a short time ago. There is redundancy in the county clerks office of Rowan County. Why weren't the deputy clerks issuing licenses all along? "He expected the deputies to comply despite Davis' refusal to authorize them to do so", smells funny to me. Surely someone could have gone over Davis' head on this matter.

The ACLU had asked that she be fined but the judge said he didn’t believe that was enough to force her into action.

Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, which is representing Davis, said in a statement, “Everyone is stunned at this development. Kim Davis is being treated as a criminal because she cannot violate her conscience. While she may be behind bars for now, Kim Davis is a free woman. Her conscience remains unshackled.”

The ACLU should be involved in this. This is a civil rights issue. The rights of all those denied marriage licences have been violated. Kim Davis' rights have not been violated.

Mat Staver seems terrible confused. Kim Davis is not in the same league as Henry David Thoreau, Martin Luther King, or Mahatma Gandhi.

I'll ask again. Why weren't the deputy clerks issuing licenses all along?

Davis was called to testify at today's hearing and she reiterated that she believes issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples is against her religious beliefs, even though she has been ordered to do so as a result of an earlier Supreme Court ruling.

"My conscience will not allow me," she said several times during her testimony.

Her conscience should be telling her to resign.