Supreme Court Rules on Clerk Who's Against Gay Marriage

Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis has been refusing to issue licenses
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Aug 31, 2015 7:30 PM CDT
Supreme Court Rules on Kentucky Gay Marriage Case
Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, right, walks with her attorney Roger Gannam into the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky in Covington, Ky., Monday, July 20, 2015.   (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

The Supreme Court today ruled against the Kentucky county clerk who has refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses, and the clerk will arrive at work tomorrow morning to face her moment of truth. Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis will have to choose whether to issue marriage licenses, defying her Christian conviction, or continue to refuse them, defying a federal judge who could pummel her with fines or order that she be hauled off to jail. "She's going to have to think and pray about her decision overnight. She certainly understands the consequences either way," said Mat Staver, founder of the law firm representing Davis, hours before a court-ordered delay in the case expired today. "She'll report to work tomorrow, and face whatever she has to face."

A line of couples, turned away by her office again and again in the two months since the US Supreme Court legalized gay marriage across the nation, plan to meet her at the courthouse door. Davis stopped issuing all marriage licenses in the days after the landmark decision. Two gay couples and two straight couples sued her, arguing that she must fulfill her duties as an elected official despite her personal religious faith. A federal judge ordered her to issue the licenses, and an appeals court upheld that decision. Her lawyers with the Liberty Counsel filed a last-ditch appeal to the Supreme Court on Friday, asking that they grant her "asylum for her conscience." Justice Elena Kagan, who oversees the 6th district, referred Davis' request to the full court, which denied the stay without comment. Click for more on the legal decision. (More gay marriage stories.)

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