A county clerk in Kentucky continues to defy the state’s Democrat governor by not issuing marriage licenses despite a new appeals court ruling ordering her to do so.
Gov. Steve Beshear, a Democrat, declared after the Supreme Court’s June 26 Obergefell ruling that county clerks throughout Kentucky should issue licenses to same-sex couples or resign.
Kim Davis, clerk of Rowan County, was faced with the choice of altering her religious beliefs and issuing the licenses or leaving the job she loved.
So she ceased issuing any marriage licenses and was promptly sued by two same-sex couples and two heterosexual couples. A U.S. district court ruled against her and now, on Wednesday, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals denied her request for a stay which would delay the first court’s ruling from taking effect until she has exhausted the appeals process.
“It cannot be defensibly argued that the holder of the Rowan County Clerk’s office, apart from who personally occupies that office, may decline to act in conformity with the United States Constitution as interpreted by a dispositive holding of the United States Supreme Court,” a three-judge panel wrote for the court. “There is thus little or no likelihood that the Clerk in her official capacity will prevail on appeal.”
Mat Staver, an attorney with Liberty Counsel who represents Davis, said he intends to file an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday.
“Certainly she’s disappointed by the court of appeals ruling but she has strong faith, even though the court of appeals didn’t grant the stay we still have the stay from the lower court that goes to Aug. 31,” he said. “The appeal is still standing and what we are asking for is a stay of the appeal of the opinion, while we can appeal it to the next level. We will ask the Supreme Court tomorrow to extend the stay through the entire time of the appeal.”
That could take anywhere from several months to a year, he said.
But Davis isn’t wavering.
“She has strong convictions and same-sex marriage is not something tangential but is in direct conflict with the core of her faith,” Staver said.
“She is a woman of strong faith, but she is just the tip of the spear because there are many others in the same situation across the country,” he continued. “The implications of it are far reaching, and I think the more people see how intolerant this is, without any provisions for people’s consciences, and how the homosexual agenda is completely intolerant of such, I think the more people will want to see a change.”
The four dissenting Supreme Court justices – John Roberts, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito – all warned that creating the new right of same-sex “marriage” would war against the existing right of religious exercise embedded in the U.S. Constitution.
“And here we are, two months later, and it is already happening,” Staver said.
Liberty Counsel warned two years ago, Staver said, that religious freedom would be replaced by the new “right” to a same-sex marriage. They were roundly criticized by the left for resorting to “scare tactics” and “conspiracy theories.”
“It could take a while to resolve the appeal, but if you don’t have a stay in the meantime you basically just trample on religious free exercise and conscience rights,” he said.
The Obama administration has been trying for years to replace the freedom of religion, as required by the First Amendment, with new language – freedom of “worship.”
This “freedom of worship” is now used in citizenship tests as the correct answer to a question about what freedoms are protected by the First Amendment.
While the difference may sound small to the untrained ear, someone can “worship” inside one’s home or church, but that is far from being able to “exercise” one’s “religion” as the First Amendment guarantees.
“They want to put you inside of a church and that’s about it, and ultimately they want to put you just inside of your own mind. That’s their goal,” Staver said. “They’re coming after churches as well.”
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals did not provide any religious accommodation rights to individuals holding religious beliefs that conflict with the new “marriage” rights of same-sex couples.
“That makes little sense because at the end of the day, it’s individuals that are carrying out the acts of the office,” Staver said. “They don’t lose their individual constitutional rights just because they are employed in a public office.”
Davis spoke to thousands of supporters at a religious freedom rally Saturday at the state Capitol, saying: “I need your prayers … to continue to stand firm in what we believe.”
“Regardless of what any man puts on a piece of paper, the law of nature is not going to change,” Davis told the crowd.
Davis stood firm on her decision to stop issuing marriage licenses, despite dozens of protesters who gathered outside the courthouse in early July.
“My conscience will not allow me to issue a license for a same sex couple,” Davis said, “because I know that God ordained marriage from the very foundation of this world to be between a man and a woman.”
Davis said she decided to defy the Supreme Court ruling after prayer and fasting. She said anyone who wants to get a marriage license must do so in another county. The Lawrence County Clerk, told LEX TV 18 last month that he’s backing down and will issue same sex marriage licenses.
But there’s no quit in Kim Davis.
