UPDATE (09/01/15):
Kim Davis has once again denied marriage licenses to same-sex couples, claiming such a decision is hers to repeatedly make due to something called "God's authority." According to the Associated Press, the Rowan County office has now been cleared of Davis supporters (?) and gay rights activists. Davis now faces "steep fines or jail time" due to the possibility of being held in contempt, as the Supreme Court very clearly stated that her continued refusal to issue licenses was in no way protected by law. Shortly after Davis' unfortunate display on Tuesday, impacted couples requested that the judge eschew jail time in favor of a fine:
The video of this baffling Rowan County ridiculousness is just as maddening as you would expect:
Get it together, Kentucky!
See original story from 08/31/15 below.
SCOTUS is laying down the law. After a clerk in Kentucky refused to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples, the Supreme Court sent her a one-page order reminding her that, in case she forgot, marriage equality is federal law. The infamous Kim Davis, made famous by a viral video of her denying a marriage license to a same-sex couple, will have to begin issuing licenses in Rowan County starting Monday, the Washington Post reports.
Davis, who's an Apostolic Christian, told a lower court that she has a "sincere religious objection" to same-sex marriage.
"In her belief," [her] lawyers wrote, "(same-sex marriage) is not, in fact, marriage."
Five couples sued Davis when she refused to issue marriage licenses, even following the Supreme Court's groundbreaking decision in June. Earlier this month a lower court, spearheaded by District Judge David L. Bunning, ruled that Davis was legally obligated to issue marriage licenses, but Davis wasn't about to go down without a fight—she appealed Bunning's decision to the Supreme Court. Today the court blocked her appeal, which makes sense given that she was breaking the law.
As Bunning so rightly said in his original ruling, Davis' "religious convictions cannot excuse her from performing the duties that she took an oath to perform as Rowan County Clerk." News flash, Kim: Love won.
