Tag: Kentucky

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Kentucky Governor Tells County Clerks: Issue Marriage Licenses To Same-Sex Couples Or Resign

Speaking at a press conference today, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear made clear his position regarding county clerks who refuse to marry same-sex couples: be prepared to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples or resign.

“When you voluntarily decide to run for office, and you win, and you raise your hand and you take the oath to uphold the Constitutions of the United States… that oath doesn’t say ‘I will uphold the parts of the Constitution that I agree with and won’t with the parts I don’t agree with.’”

“You can continue to have your own personal beliefs but, you’re also taking an oath to fulfill the duties prescribed by law, and if you are at that point to where your personal convictions tell you that you simply cannot fulfill your duties that you were elected to do, than obviously an honorable course to take is to resign and let someone else step-in who feels that they can fulfill those duties.”

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Kentucky Count Clerk Kim Davis On Same-Sex Marriage: I Can’t Authorize What I Don’t Agree With

Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis of Kentucky stopped issuing all marriage licenses June 27, one day after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriages nationwide.

The American Civil Liberties Union sued her on behalf of two gay couples and two straight couples.

Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear instructed county clerks to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples immediately. At least two clerks refused. Clerks are elected officials. They cannot be removed from office unless impeached by the state legislature. Impeachment appears unlikely, given the political climate in the state capital.

Kentucky law requires the county clerk to issue marriage licenses, or the local judge executive if the clerk is absent or the office is vacant.

The wording on the license says the couple is “hereby authorized” to get married.

“If … I authorize that I’m saying I agree with it, and I can’t,” Davis said Monday in a sometimes tearful testimony before a packed courtroom.

Davis would like the governor to call a special session of the state legislature (at at cost of $60,000 a day) with the intent of passing new laws allowing county clerks to refuse same-sex couples service based on religious beliefs.

In Kentucky, it’s a Class A misdemeanor — first-degree official misconduct — for elected officials to refuse to perform the duties of their office.

Davis was vague when asked what she plans to do should the judge order her to issue marriage licenses.

“I’ll deal with that when the time comes,” she said.

It has been reported that Davis has been married four times herself.

(via LGBTQ Nation)

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Kentucky County Clerk: The Problem Is Same-Sex Couples Want Me To Do My Job

Casey County Clerk Casey Davis of Kentucky complains that gay and lesbian couples can get a marriage license from other county clerks, so if they would just do that he wouldn’t have a problem on his hands since he refuses to issue marriage licenses to those couples.

Oh, and then there’s the fact that he faces contempt of of court charges by defying the recent SCOTUS ruling on marriage equality.

Government officials don’t get to pick and choose which duties they do and do not want to do. When Davis took office, he swore an oath to uphold the Constitution. That now includes the constitutional right of gays and lesbians to marry.

Davis complains that issuing such licenses would somehow mean he is “participating” in or “approving” of the wedding. It’s not. It’s filling out and signing a form.

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear has advised county clerks to either do their jobs or resign.

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Kentucky: Governor Advises County Clerk To Issue Marriage Licenses To Same-Sex Couples Or Resign

Earlier today, Casey County Clerk Casey Davis left a one-on-one meeting with the Governor of Kentucky, Democrat Steve Beshear, who advised the county clerk to do his job, issue marriage licenses to all couples regardless of gender – or resign.

Davis says he is refusing to issue licenses to same-sex couples, and is refusing to resign.

Governor Beshear has issued this statement regarding the meeting:

This morning, I advised Mr. Davis that I respect his right to his own personal beliefs regarding same-sex marriages.

However, when he was elected, he took a constitutional oath to uphold the United States Constitution. According to the United States Supreme Court, the Constitution now requires that governmental officials in Kentucky and elsewhere must recognize same-sex marriages as valid and allow them to take place. One of Mr. Davis’ duties as county court clerk is to issue marriage licenses, and the Supreme Court now says that the United States Constitution requires those marriage licenses to be issued regardless of gender. Mr. Davis’ own county attorney has advised him that his oath requires him to do so.

Davis has also asked that same-sex couples be allowed to obtain their marriage licenses online so he doesn’t have to deal with them.

A group of county clerks has asked the governor to call a special session of the state legislature to address the issue of same-sex marriage.

Gov. Bashear has already said he has no plans to spend hundred of thousands of tax payer dollars on a special session about what is now settled law.

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Viral Video: Kentucky County Clerk Denies Gay Couple Marriage License

A video has surfaced on YouTube which apparently shows two men being denied a marriage license in Morehead, Kentucky by Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis.

When the couple is finally allowed to approach the counter, they present copies of the recent Supreme Court decision as well as Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear’s executive order requiring all county clerks to issue marriage licenses.

The employees are unmoved by this evidence and continue to deny the couple their marriage license. A woman presumed to be Clerk Davis finally appears at 11:12 in the video, and she begins her interaction with the couple by asking one of the female supporters recording the encounter to “put your phone away”.

The supporter responds by saying “This is his right to have this filmed as well”. Ms. Davis continues to insist that the supporter stop filming, and she apparently complies since that is where the tape ends.

The ACLU is now suing Ms. Davis for failure to carry out her duties.

ACLU of Kentucky Cooperating Attorney Laura Landenwich said in a statement, “Ms. Davis has the absolute right to believe whatever she wants about God, faith, and religion, but as a government official who swore an oath to uphold the law, she cannot pick and choose who she is going to serve, or which duties her office will perform based on her religious beliefs.”

UPDATE: I think it’s worth noting that Ms. Davis’ “deeply held religious beliefs” apparently only affect her views on gays. With regard to the sanctity of marriage, it’s become public knowledge that Davis is currently on her FOURTH marriage.

I don’t judge the three failed marriages, but since divorce is frowned upon in the Bible I wonder why Davis doesn’t address her own life’s challenges before she denies couples a marriage license.

Clearly Davis knows how to fill out the paperwork considering her own four licenses…

(from PINAC.com)

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Kentucky and Michigan follow Ohio and Tennessee with SCOTUS Filings For Same-Sex Marriage Review

Following the petitions filed on Friday by Ohio and Tennessee, the plaintiffs in the Kentucky and Michigan same-sex marriage cases – which recently saw their respective state’s bans upheld by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals – have filed requests with SCOTUS for review of that 6th Circuit anti-equality ruling.

SCOTUS is highly expected to take up at least one if not all cases now that there is disagreement among federal appellate courts on marriage equality.

Stay tuned.

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Plaintiffs In 6th Circuit Court Marriage Ban Ruling Look To SCOTUS

According to Buzzfeed’s Chris Geidner, all sets of plaintiffs from yesterday’s 6th Circuit ruling upholding bans on same-sex marriage have conferenced and the decision is to unanimously head to the US Supreme Court.

Abby Rubenfeld, the lead lawyer for the Tennessee plaintiffs, updated BuzzFeed News about Friday’s call with the counsel from all four states.

“We just had a conference call with the attorneys from all four Sixth Circuit states on the marriage cases. We were all in agreement to apply for certiorari at the supreme court, and not to first seek en banc review in the Sixth Circuit,” she explained. “Given the significance of the issue, the reality that it will end up in the Supreme Court ultimately, and the harms that all of our clients are suffering each day that their marriages are not recognized, we want to get to the Supreme Court sooner rather than later.”

“We hope to file within two weeks, and hopefully sooner, so that we can still be on the docket for this term—which means resolution by june 30, 2015,” she added.

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Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Upholds Same-Sex Marriage Bans In Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has just issued a ruling upholding the bans on same-sex marriage in Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee.

The oral arguments, held on August 6th, looked as if this might be the case. The ruling comes as a split 2-1 decision, with Circuit Judge Jeffrey Sutton writing the majority opinion. Sutton was widely viewed as the “swing vote” among the three judges who heard oral arguments.

The 4th, 7th, 9th and 10th Circuit Courts of Appeal have all ruled that bans on same-sex marriage are unconstitutional.

The US Supreme Court recently declined requests for appeal from Oklahoma, Utah and Virginia. Justice Ginsburg later said that since all federal appellate courts were in agreement, there was no pressing need for SCOTUS review. The ruling today makes it much more urgent for SCOTUS to weigh in now that the 6th Circuit becomes the first federal appellate court to disagree with prior appeals court rulings.

At present, 33 states plus the District of Columbia have marriage equality.

More soon. Read the ruling below:

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Marriage equality arguments end in 6th Circuit Court of Appeals

The big day for marriage equality in the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has ended.

Six cases from four states looking for marriage equality – Michigan, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio.

Freedom To Marry has posted the oral arguments from all of the cases. If you’ve never listened to lawyers present their cases and answer questions by the judges, it can be pretty fascinating. Plus, you might get a sense of which side the rulings will come down on. Although, law experts always make a point of saying you can’t really tell what the ruling will be based on the questions the judges ask. Sometimes, they are just playing “devil’s advocate” to see where it takes them.

Chris Geidner, legal editor for Buzzfeed, seemed to think Judge Daughtrey seemed most sympathetic to the good guys; Judge Cook, who apparently spoke the least seemed to favor the bad guys; and so it will most probably fall on Judge Sutton, who was not an easy read.

Chris Johnson of the Washington Blade wrote:

Based on their line of questioning, two judges — U.S. Circuit Judge Martha Craig Daughtry and U.S. Circuit Judge Jeffrey Sutton — seemed prepared to rule against bans on same-sex marriage. U.S. Circuit Judge Deborah Cook was relatively quiet, but appeared poised to rule in favor of the laws. Similar to other federal appeals court rulings, the panel seemed headed to make a 2-1 decision in favor of marriage equality.

Listen to the oral arguments below and see what you think:

Michigan: DeBoer v. Snyder

Tennessee:Tanco v. Haslam

Kentucky: Bourke v. Beshear and Love v. Beshear

Ohio: Obergefell v. Wymyslo and Henry v. Himes

And now, we wait. Experts say it could take several weeks to get the rulings.