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News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyAugust 19th, 2016
You remember Kim Davis, right? She’s the Kentucky clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. After she refused a court order, she was briefly jailed for contempt while her office issued licenses as the judge ordered. Long story short: people are getting married in Morehead, and Kim Davis is no longer trying to interfere. So:
A federal judge on Thursday dismissed three lawsuits pending against Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis over her refusal to issue marriage licenses in 2015, following the legalization of same-sex marriage by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The issue is now settled, U.S. District Judge David Bunning wrote in his order. At Davis’ request, Gov. Matt Bevin and the General Assembly changed state law this year to remove county clerks’ names from marriage licenses. And in Rowan County, one of Davis’ deputy clerks has been issuing licenses to all couples, same-sex and opposite-sex, since Davis was briefly jailed for contempt of court last summer after violating Bunning’s order to resume issuing licenses.
“In light of these proceedings, and in view of the fact that the marriage licenses continue to be issued without incident, there no longer remains a case or controversy before the court,” Bunning wrote.
In typical fashion, Liberty Counsel, which has been defending Davis in court, has declared victory:
“Kim Davis has won! We celebrate this victory for her and for every American,” said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. “County clerks are now able to perform their public service without being forced to compromise their religious liberty. The case is now closed and the door has been shut on the ACLU’s attempt to assess damages against Kim Davis. This victory is not just for Kim Davis. It is a victory for everyone who wants to remain true to their deeply-held religious beliefs regarding marriage while faithfully serving the public,” said Staver.
If that’s a victory, then I’ll take more of that, please.
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Chris McCoy
August 19th, 2016
I’m not sure this is a victory for LGBT rights. Mrs Davis got everything she wanted.
1) She doesn’t have to perform her civic duty if the couple requesting a marriage licence is LGBT. She is legally allowed to discriminate on the basis of orientation in her government job.
2) Her name doesn’t have to appear on marriage licenses of those dirty homosexuals
3) Neither She, her office, nor the State, face any type of liability, fiscal or otherwise, for violating federal law.
4) Every County clerk in every County in the nation now has precedent to do exactly the same thing as Mrs Davis.
So, explain to me how this is a victory?
Jim Burroway
August 20th, 2016
Gay people are marrying in Rowan County. If she still had her way, they wouldn’t be.
And in fact, her case did NOT set any precedent for any other clerk to violate the law. Quite the opposite. She was compelled by the court to follow the law as it stood at the time. That the state of Kentucky decided to relieve county clerks of some of their previously defined duties is a different matter.
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