Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear (D)
Kim Davis, the Christian clerk who made global headlines for refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses in Rowan County, Kentucky, returns to work today but only after asking an appeals court to allow her to continue to refuse issuing the licenses until her case is settled.
The Christian Post is reporting that attorneys for Davis filed a motion with the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals asking that Davis’ office be permitted to continue to refuse issuing licenses pending the court’s decision on the case. Her attorneys argue that U.S. District Judge David Bunning’s initial order concerned only the couples who sued her for licenses. They claim the judge violated Davis’ right to due process by later including any couple legally eligible to marry.
In the meantime, even though deputy clerks in her office are issuing licenses to same-sex couples, all certificates issued in her name without her authority are void, her attorney’s say.
In a separate filing also made on Davis’ behalf on Friday, her attorney’s say the case could be over if the governor would use his authority to change the certificates and remove Davis’ name from the documents. This would be a simple fix and would provide an accommodation to people of faith which would preserve the freedom to practice religion as guaranteed under the First Amendment.
However, thus far, Governor Steve Beshear (D) has refused to do so, saying that the matter was between Davis and the courts.
Davis spent six days in jail for refusing to issue the licenses after the right to same-sex marriage was imposed on the country by a Supreme Court decision earlier this summer. Her heroic stand touched off a nationwide protest of the way Christians and other conscientious objectors are being forced to accommodate the law in ways that violate the First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion.
As a result, she gained some very high-profile supporters, among them several Republican presidential candidates.
For instance, Republican candidate Rick Santorum compared her with Martin Luther King.
“Martin Luther King went to jail because he didn’t follow the law,” Santorum said last week in a radio interview. “There’s a long precedent in America from people saying, ‘You know the law has to change to accommodate what is the right thing to do’.”
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee said Davis “is showing more courage and humility than just about any federal office holder in Washington.”
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul said he believes the way Davis has been treated will only “harden the resolve” of traditional marriage advocates and deliver a setback to those who promote the unions.
Both Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and Louisiana Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal have said that Christians should be able to serve in elected office and not have to compromise their conscience.
Davis’ case could very well become the precedent for establishing reasonable accommodations for people of faith and supporters of traditional marriage, a step that many legal experts say must occur in the near future if the First Amendment is to be preserved.
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