Kentucky County must issue marriage licenses to Plaintiffs, Court Rules

Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis must begin issuing marriage licenses – that’s the decision reached by U.S. Judge David Bunning late Wednesday. Bunning granted a preliminary injunction against Davis.

Clerks in scattered locations across the South objected in June after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled same-sex couples had a constitutional right to marriage.

“The effect of this order is the government ordering a person to violate her sincerely-held religious beliefs, and that’s why we are appealing it”, Gannam said.

“If I authorize (same-sex marriage licenses), I’m saying I agree with that and I can’t”, she said.

ACLU of Kentucky Cooperating Attorney Dan Canon added: ‘The ruling represents a total victory for our clients’. “Elected officials can not be permitted to ignore the rule of law by governing according to their own private beliefs”. In court, she argued that issuing the forms under her name would violate her religious beliefs, even if a deputy clerk performs the task in her stead.

Clerk Kim Davis must now issue marriage licenses to April Miller, Karen Roberts, Jody Fernandez, Kevin Holloway, Barry Spartman, Aaron Skaggs, Shantel Burke and Stephen Napier.

The American Civil Liberties Union sued Davis on behalf of two same-sex and two opposite sex couples. Bunning said that although couples could get marriage licenses elsewhere, “why should they be required to?”

At a July court hearing Davis said she is an Apostolic Christian and believes that marriage is between one man and one woman. “… There are individuals in this rural region of the state who simply do not have the physical, financial or practical means to travel”. He seemed interested in the part of the state statute outlining who is authorized to perform marriages in Kentucky.

Davis filed suit, in turn, against Gov. Steve Beshear. They were the first couple to be denied in Rowan County and said they plan to return to the clerk’s office soon to get a license.

He said her policy to refuse all licenses infringes on marriage rights, and that Davis’ actions have been inconsistent with official oaths to defend the Constitution.