MOREHEAD, Ky. -- The Supreme Court on Monday ruled against the Kentucky county clerk who has refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses.
Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis stopped issuing all marriage licenses in June after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage across the country. Two gay couples and two straight couples sued her, arguing that she must fulfill her duties as an elected official despite her religious views.
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 it 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. Kagan was part of the majority when the court legalized gay marriage.
If Davis continues to turn away those seeking marriage licenses, the plaintiffs' attorneys can ask a judge to hold her in contempt of court, which can carry steep fines or jail time.
"She's going to have to think and pray about her decision overnight. She certainly understands the consequences either way," Mat Staver, founder of the law firm representing Davis, said on Monday, hours before a court-ordered delay in the case expired. "She'll report to work tomorrow and face whatever she has to face."
Dan Canon, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, said he hopes Davis will simply hand his clients licenses today.
"But if she continues to defy the court's order, we cannot let that continue unaddressed," he said Monday night. "It all depends on what happens tomorrow."
Meanwhile, a couple who had been turned away went to Rowan County Attorney Cecil Watkins to ask that Davis be charged with official misconduct, a misdemeanor defined by state law as a public official who "refrains from performing a duty imposed upon him by law or clearly inherent in the nature of his office." The crime is punishable by up to a year in jail.
Watkins cited a conflict of interest and forwarded the complaint to Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway, whose office will decide whether to appoint a special prosecutor, generally a county attorney from a surrounding jurisdiction, who would decide whether to file charges.
A Section on 09/01/2015