Clerk Who Denied Marriage Licenses to Gay Couples Violated Constitutional Rights, Finds Federal Judg

[riversedge]

Source: rollingstone



March 18, 2022 3:10PM ET


Kim Davis refused to give two gay couples marriage licenses due to “God’s authority”
By Tomás Mier



Ty Wright/Getty Images

Kim Davis, the former Kentucky clerk that denied two gay couples marriage licenses in 2015, violated their constitutional rights, a federal judge found on Friday.

To Read the Full Story

Read more: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/kim-davis-violated-constitutional-rights-gay-couples-1323789/

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goodness. I did not know this case was still in the courts.


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Kim DavisKim Davis
Kim Davis, the Rowan County Clerk of Courts, listens to Robbie Blankenship and Jesse Cruz as they speak with her at the County Clerks Office on Sept. 2, 2015 in Morehead, Kentucky



Judge rules Kim Davis violated couples' rights. Jury to decide if she'll pay damages


https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2022/03/18/judge-rules-ex-rowan-county-clerk-kim-davis-violated-couples-rights/7096153001/
Morgan Watkins Louisville Courier Journal

Former Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis violated two couples' constitutional rights by refusing to give them marriage licenses after the U.S. Supreme Court declared same-sex marriage legal in 2015, a federal judge ruled Friday.

Whether she'll have to pay damages to those now-married couples still must be determined by a jury, though.

Davis made international news and briefly ended up in jail for contempt of court more than six years ago after she refused to give same-sex couples marriage licenses in Eastern Kentucky's Rowan County despite the Supreme Court's landmark Obergefell v. Hodges decision in June 2015.

In a ruling Friday, U.S. District Court Judge David Bunning said the nation's highest court determined marriage is a fundamental right under the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and it is "readily apparent that Davis made a conscious decision to violate" the rights of David Ermold and David Moore and of James Yates and Will Smith.

Related:5 years after same-sex marriage ruling, Kentucky couples reflect on challenges, triumphs

Bunning's ruling said Davis, whom voters ousted as county clerk in 2018, argued the federal court can't impose certain civil liability on her because it would violate her constitutional right to the free exercise of religion.

"Ultimately, this Court’s determination is simple — Davis cannot use her own constitutional rights as a shield to violate the constitutional rights of others while performing her duties as an elected official," wrote Bunning, of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. ..............................

[elleng]

1. No sh*t, sherlock.

[Roy Rolling]

33. 7 years ago?

C’mon, that’s why American Nazis don’t fear the court system—they drag judgement out until it’s no longer relevant.

For months propagandists drive the idiot train and fundraise off of the injustice. Then the issue is no longer a moneymaker so they move on to another burning moral issue.

[Demovictory9]

2. A blast from the past..

[fierywoman]

3. I hope she has to pay a substantial fine.

[riversedge]

10. ..The question of whether damages should be awarded will be determined by a jury, per Bunning's ruli

Time will tell.





"Ultimately, this Court’s determination is simple — Davis cannot use her own constitutional rights as a shield to violate the constitutional rights of others while performing her duties as an elected official," wrote Bunning, of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.

The couples in this litigation are seeking compensatory and punitive damages as well as legal fees that gradually mounted during this years-long court battle.





.........The question of whether damages should be awarded will be determined by a jury, per Bunning's ruling, which said: "It is this Court’s opinion that Davis violated Plaintiffs’ constitutional right to marry and the only remaining issue is the issue of damages."

Relate:US Supreme Court justices criticize same-sex marriage ruling, call Kim Davis a 'victim'

The Florida-based organization Liberty Counsel is representing Davis in court and said Friday it will keep arguing she's not liable for damages.

[soldierant]

22. It's a civil suit.

Fines can be imposed in criminal cases if the statute which was broken so provides. In civil cases it's actual damages, compensatory damages, and punitive damages (rare) as well as court costs. I would love to see her get slapped with all four. Punitive damages would be the closest thing to a fine that a civil suit can provide.

[Baitball Blogger]

4. Why did it take this long?

Justice delayed, justice denied.

[intheflow]

57. Well, there was this little thing called COVID...

I mean, yeah, it took waaaaay too long, but I'm sure 2 years of pandemic slowed the wheels of justice a bit.

[BlueIdaho]

5. Damages

She should pay damages including interest from the date of the violation.

[Talitha]

6. Give her a fine as big as her bloated ego.

Hope she gets some kind of sentence, too.
She'd look quite natural behind bars.

[soldierant]

23. It would have to be a criminal case for either of those.

It isn't.

[truthisfreedom]

7. Perfect example of this kind of idiocy.

I hope she pays for the rest of her life.

[Kittycatkat]

8. I hope her hair gets stuck in an elevator...

[C_eh_N_eh_D_eh]

16. In their book, the Liberal Rednecks said Kim's hair

must be a political statement, since clearly no gay person has ever been allowed near it.

[Jetheels]

47. +1

[keithbvadu2]

9. The sanctity of Holy matrimony for conservative Christians - Kim Davis

Jesus was very specific and vocal about divorce, remarriage, and adultery.

There are very few churches that practice what Jesus spake.

The sanctity of Holy matrimony for conservative Christians - Kim Davis

[riversedge]

11. I wonder if she will take to SC?? This judge said it was a constitutional issue. if she does,

we now have SC justices who wear their Religion on their sleeves!!

[hollygolively]

52. I Am Sure THEY, not SHE will. She is only a pawn.

She is backed by the Liberty Counsel. A right-wing organization that provides lawyers and support in cases like this. This case is being directed by them, and not her. She is only a pawn in their game. They are delighted to have this case. Given the current SCOTUS, they may achieve their goals of limiting, or turning back, the rights of LGBTQ+ people.

Independent people, like cake bakers, florists, etc. may be able to argue religious exemption and succeed. Theay are, after all, private entities.

People serving in government as a public official should not be able to succeed with a religious exemption argument. Once she became a public servant, an arm of the government, at her own choice, she gave up some personal rights. Just as soldiers give up personal rights when they choose to serve.

Well, that is how I see it. How the current SCOTUS may twist things to favor her is another thing.

[riversedge]

13. Gooooooooooodness!! Is this posture true???? Unbelievable!

[niyad]

40. If you are referring to her marital history, yes. Widely discussed here at the time.

welll, except the fathering part.

[Rebl2]

14. Okay

Wow. Nothing like those staunch believers in biblical teachings. In this specific case, I’d say she’s a hypocrite.

[Jetheels]

48. Hypocrisy is their bread and butter.

[Rebl2]

49. So True!

[riversedge]

15. #has a high potential of reaching the Supreme Court," .........

my bad. I had not read the entire article. I guess is that she will take it all the way up.


"This case raises serious First Amendment free exercise of religion claims and has a high potential of reaching the Supreme Court," Liberty Counsel chairman Mat Staver said in a statement Friday.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

17. She fathered twins?

Is she actually transgender? This is fascinating! I can hardly wait to learn more.

[Lucky Luciano]

19. She's actually Dick Cheney.

Notice how you’ve never seen Kim Davis and Cheney in the same room at the same time.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

21. Well, I haven't actually been checking that out,

but no doubt you are right.

[Ligyron]

32. If I was drinking coffee, you'd owe me a keyboard!

[keithbvadu2]

25. Good catch. Love it.

[Kittycatkat]

26. She would have been stoned to death in some countries.

Too bad she lives here.

[keithbvadu2]

28. Good point.

We have some super fundamentalists here who have killed their child because the child was the devil in their beliefs.

They are generally considered mentally deficient in our society.

Some have allowed their child to die rather than seek medical attention.

Those cases are teetering on the edge of valid religious beliefs.

[3Hotdogs]

27. To paraphrase George Carlin, Why is it that people whose sexual values come from the Bible,

are people you wouldn't want to fuck in the first place?

[Kittycatkat]

44. I miss George Carlin.

[PatrickforB]

12. Boy, you can sure FEEL that Christian hate...

Or maybe I should say right wing evangelical crazy-Christian hate...

[Duncan Grant]

20. If I allow it, these people make me incandescent.

I loathe their sanctimonious finger-wagging and snake handling. Assess damages, let Jesus pay the bill and throw a bucket of water on her — just to be sure.

[rsdsharp]

24. Correct, if surprising, ruling.

Judge Bunning is the son of Jim Bunning, Hall of Fame pitcher and former arch conservative Kentucky senator.

[ancianita]

29. Seven damn years. And it ain't over YET.

[PdamnedQ]

30. rolling rolling rolling rawhide + 1

Poor little thing she looks so sad.

[electric_blue68]

31. Good! If you're working for the State you're not supposed to discriminate.

[jaxexpat]

34. "I did not know this case was still in the courts." Well, it shouldn't have been.

Progressivism, the only hope for the long-term survival of any democracy, is under continuous and perpetual attack from the status quo. The oldest and most lethal weapon used by civilization against itself is atrophy. The act of enforcing values which run counter to established law is tyranny when wielded by figures of authority. Atrophy is the friend of lawlessness, the enemy of justice. Even when finally beaten back, the fact of its hold on the spotlight, the momentary question of it's true character, however temporary or solidly defeated, is injustice's greatest ally.

Justice delayed is justice denied. Injustice feeds on delay. It should not be tolerated, especially when masked as prudence.

[Rhiannon12866]

35. I know, as soon as I saw the pic, I remembered her immediately

I can't believe we're still dealing with this, I thought she was removed from office years ago.

[jaxexpat]

36. My gripe is about how typical it is that some people get their chance ad nauseum.......

while others are summarily awarded life-killing last-and-only with no legitimate attempt to see justice. It's the most insidious symptom of our social disintegration, from our inability to imprison TFG and his minions for their attempted insurrection even 15 months since its battle royale to the incalculably irresponsible protection of hate speech and well-funded calls for barbarism as 1st amendment protected rights of expression. It is madness. Our legal system, everyday levying under-the-radar, so typical as to be mundane, terms and sentences against the underserved and underseen for violations which the system-protected and privileged never so much as suffer a "pomade malfunction" to their coiffure, is a celebration of injustice. A status quo which leads toward and can only end in violence, unceasing and unrepentant terrorism.

[Rhiannon12866]

38. I agree, it's not just frustrating, it's maddening

And justice, as we know it, seems to have deteriorated in recent years, particularly in the last five, and the waiting has been exhausting. For how long did we wait for the Mueller Report? For an awfully long time, that's all anyone talked about. We have viral videos of those who are stopped and searched - or worse - yet that is still going on. We had two impeachment hearings with cases presented by the best and the brightest, yet the abuses not only continued, they culminated with the horrors of January 6th - and now we're waiting for the results of the House Select Committee the same way we waited for the Mueller Report. And another year has gone by. Meanwhile, the states have taken matters into their own hands to prevent citizens from voting. We're suffering a national weariness from all this waiting, exacerbated by the fear that once again our hopes will come to nothing.

[intheflow]

58. She was removed from office in 2018.

More precisely, she didn't win reelection in 2018. We probably would have been reading this two years ago if we didn't have COVID-interruptus for a couple years. Still a long time, but as we know, the arc of the universe is long and at least it's properly bending towards justice for Kim Davis.

[Marthe48]

37. f her too

narrow-minded and stupid.

[drmeow]

39. I'm convinced that

ultra religious people like this are jealous. They unconsciously hate the restrictions put on them by their religion and are jealous of people who don't feel obligated to follow those same restrictions (even while they don't actually follow).

[DownriverDem]

41. I fear

for LGBTQ folks. repubs are doing all they can to roll the laws back. They want to drag us all back to the 1950s. I see lots of folks who glorify the 1950s. They don't realize the lack of rights for women and minorities back then.

[Upthevibe]

42. Kick. N/T

[RocRizzo55]

43. Maybe god

Will pay her legal fees.

[Grins]

45. Liberty Counsel will - I'M SURE - pay her fines.

Or have they made all the noise they wanted make and it’s all: “Good luck, sucker!”

[azureblue]

46. Did She deny

a license to anyone who
eats pork
eats shellfish
has tattoos
wears glasses to church (Whoops) (thou shall not approach the alter of the Lord is you have a defect in your vision)
Of course not - she is another one of those Bible verse cherry picking fake Christians and probably Baptist. IOw she wants free exercise of religion as long as she gets to define what the tenets of her religion is..

[Jack-o-Lantern]

50. She looks like a witch.

[Joe Bacon]

51. Gee, I wonder who will pay her fine?

Oh I'm sure a GiveFundGo will be set up by her church pals.

[Icanthinkformyself]

53. Bankruptcy

should be the next court she appears in. Religious bigots do not belong in government.

[newdayneeded]

54. Hmmmm,

So based on this, any judgement on donny is 20 years out?

[twodogsbarking]

55. She seems promiscuous.

[LowerManhattanite]

56. I'd almost forgotten about ol'...

…Sham Kinison.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

59. From George Takei

Link to tweet