Kim Davis
The following year, the Supreme Court decided Obergefell v. Hodges, and all county clerks in Kentucky were ordered to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
[4][5] Davis was released after five days in jail under the condition that she not interfere with the efforts of her deputy clerks, who had begun issuing marriage licenses to all couples in her absence.
A few weeks after her release from jail, Davis met with Pope Francis in Washington, D.C. She was defeated by Democratic challenger Elwood Caudill Jr. in the November 6, 2018, election and vacated the office on January 7, 2019.
[32] The Family Foundation of Kentucky, a local political organization, held a protest rally against the ruling at the State Capitol in Frankfort on August 22, 2015, attended by several thousand people.
[33] The clerks of the two other Kentucky counties declined to speak to the rally crowd, but Davis spoke briefly, saying, "I need your prayers ... to continue to stand firm in what we believe.
"[34] At a competing event several blocks away organized by the Fairness Campaign of Louisville, attendees celebrated the Supreme Court's decision and called upon government officials to uphold the law.
Davis argued tearfully that issuing licenses under her name violated her beliefs, citing her religious rights under the First Amendment: "It wasn't just a spur-of-the-moment decision", she said.
On August 31, 2015, in a one-line order, the Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal, preventing Davis from legally continuing to deny marriage licenses.
[51][52] In response to the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal to grant her stay request, Davis stated: I never imagined a day like this would come, where I would be asked to violate a central teaching of Scripture and of Jesus Himself regarding marriage.
Only her son, Nathan Davis, told the judge he refused to comply with the court's order to start issuing marriage licenses; Bunning declined to hold him in contempt.
[9][70] Through her Liberty Counsel attorneys, Davis filed an appeal of the order holding her in contempt of court, asking that she be released immediately from jail and that her name be removed from marriage licenses, allowing her deputies to issue them.
[76][77][78] The order stated: "Defendant Davis shall not interfere in any way, directly or indirectly, with the efforts of her deputy clerks to issue marriage licenses to all legally eligible couples.
"[104] Professor Stephen Vladeck of American University's Washington College of Law said that Davis "waived any right to have an objection to issuing same-sex marriage licenses when she ran for the job".
[96] Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin and others compared Davis's refusal to follow orders of the U.S. Supreme Court to Alabama Governor George Wallace's futile "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door" protest of desegregation in 1963.
"[51] Attorney and author Roberta A. Kaplan, who argued for the plaintiffs in United States v. Windsor, wrote that "Kim Davis is the clearest example of someone who wants to use a religious liberty argument to discriminate, yet she swore an oath to uphold the Constitution.
[118] Republican presidential candidates Carly Fiorina and Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina both suggested that Davis should comply with the court order or resign.
[121][123] Matt Bevin, the Republican nominee for Kentucky governor in the 2015 election, said a simple solution to Davis's plight is for the government to stop providing marriage contracts.
Probate Judge Nick Williams of Washington County, Alabama, said he stopped issuing licenses altogether to avoid discrimination and said, "I completely disagree with the authority the Supreme Court has.
Under Kentucky law, a commonwealth's attorney has the power to indict various local officials including "judges-executives, justices of the peace, sheriffs, coroners, surveyors, jailers, county attorneys and constables" for "malfeasance in office or willful neglect in the discharge of official duties" (an offense punishable by removal from office and a fine of up to $1,000); however, the statute doesn't include county clerks.
[133] After being denied a license four times, one couple asked the Rowan County Attorney's Office to investigate Davis for official misconduct, a misdemeanor under Kentucky law.
[135][136][137] The Kentucky Attorney General's office conducted a review,[138] and Conway issued a statement saying, "We are a nation of laws, and no one can defy an order from a federal judge.
[145][146] Liberty Counsel, which responded to the request on Davis's behalf, refused to comply, arguing that the documents were preliminary and private records are not subject to the Act.
"[145][146] One of the first acts of newly elected Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin was an executive order to remove clerks' names from the state marriage licenses.
[147][148] Kim Davis and her attorneys at Liberty Counsel immediately requested that the court dismiss her appeals, because the new regulation provides a religious accommodation for her and makes the case moot.
[149] Bunning agreed, dismissing the three lawsuits filed against her, saying the new governor's order to use a license form that does not require the county clerk's signature has removed the controversy before the court.
[168][169] On August 23, 2019, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati upheld Bunning's decision ordering Kentucky to pay the $225,000 legal bill from the Kim Davis case.
[180] Two days later, the Holy See Press Office issued a statement saying that "the Pope did not enter into the details of the situation of Mrs. Davis and his meeting with her should not be considered a form of support of her position in all of its particular and complex aspects".
[188] On September 27, 2015, a reporter asked Pope Francis if he supported individuals, including government officials, who have a contentious objection to certain duties such as issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
[204][205][206] Funny or Die made a Mashup video featuring characters from Parks and Recreation that spoofs Davis's refusal to issue marriage licenses[207][208] and parodies her meeting with Pope Francis.
[211][212] Actress Jennifer Lawrence, in the December 2015 issue of Vogue, told Jonathan Van Meter that Kim Davis is a "lady that makes me embarrassed to be from Kentucky.
