U.S. clerk jailed for gay marriage defiance; dispute goes on
- 9 years ago
A two-month legal fight over a Kentucky county clerk's refusal to issue marriage licenses to gay couples turns on Friday to whether her deputy clerks will defy her orders or those of a federal judge who ordered her jailed for contempt.
Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis closed her office on Thursday while she and her staff appeared before U.S. District Judge David Bunning over her refusal to issue any marriage licenses under an office policy she created after the U.S. Supreme Court in June made gay marriage legal across the United States.
The office is due to reopen on Friday without Davis, 49, who has cited her beliefs as an Apostolic Christian for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. She has become a darling of social conservatives with her defiance of the court order. The hearings on Thursday followed months of legal wrangling that has drawn global attention and protests from supporters and opponents of gay marriage. About 200 protesters gathered outside the courthouse.
Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis closed her office on Thursday while she and her staff appeared before U.S. District Judge David Bunning over her refusal to issue any marriage licenses under an office policy she created after the U.S. Supreme Court in June made gay marriage legal across the United States.
The office is due to reopen on Friday without Davis, 49, who has cited her beliefs as an Apostolic Christian for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. She has become a darling of social conservatives with her defiance of the court order. The hearings on Thursday followed months of legal wrangling that has drawn global attention and protests from supporters and opponents of gay marriage. About 200 protesters gathered outside the courthouse.