There are few options, under Kentucky law, for addressing an official who doesn’t want to do their job.
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Rowan County clerk Kim Davis (right) talks with David Moore following her office's refusal to issue marriage licenses at the Rowan County Courthouse in Morehead, Kentucky, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2015.
Timothy D. Easley / AP
WASHINGTON — On Thursday morning, Kentucky's Rowan County clerk Kim Davis could be held in contempt of court for continuing to refuse to issue marriage licenses.
Many supporters of marriage equality have called for Davis's firing, but, as an elected official herself, she cannot be fired. Without her backing down or resigning or people waiting for the next election, other options for getting Davis, or Rowan County, on board with marriage equality are very limited, a review of state law and state history shows.
Davis's policy, which she says is based on her religious opposition to her name appearing on the marriage licenses of same-sex couples, has captivated the country. In the wake of the Supreme Court's June ruling in favor of nationwide marriage equality, most places — immediately or eventually — implemented the ruling and have moved on. As BuzzFeed News noted, however, there were a few small pockets resisting.
Now, one of those pockets — Rowan County — is the central story of the marriage equality "backlash" that never coalesced.
On Thursday, U.S. District Court David Bunning — who issued an order on Aug. 12 that Davis, a Democrat, end her "no marriage licenses" policy should the couples who sued seek a marriage license from her — could hold Davis in contempt. That could mean fines, as requested by the plaintiffs, or even the jailing of Davis.
"Plaintiffs do not seek to compel Davis' compliance through incarceration," lawyers for the plaintiffs wrote in a court filing on Tuesday. "Since Defendant Davis continues to collect compensation from the Commonwealth for duties she fails to perform, Plaintiffs urge the the Court to impose financial penalties sufficiently serious and increasingly onerous to compel Davis' immediate compliance without further delay."
Even if Bunning does hold her in contempt, however, Davis has signaled that won't change her position. In a statement released through her Liberty Counsel lawyers on Tuesday, she said, "It is not a light issue for me. It is a Heaven or Hell decision. … I intend to continue to serve the people of Rowan County, but I cannot violate my conscience."
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Via lrc.ky.gov
