Kim Davis has returned to work as a county clerk after serving time in jail for refusing to obey a court order to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples. Here is how they worked things out: She will not issue the marriage licenses, but her deputies will. She will not sign them and her name will not appear on the documents. Rather, they will contain the notation that they were issued under the order of U.S. District Judge David Bunning.
Is this a good solution, or does it just set up technicalities that can assuage a conscience while ignoring the larger issue? If it is a good solution, can it be a model for other religious liberty cases?
Meanwhile, other officials from other states are following Mrs. Davis’s example in refusing to be complicit in gay marriages.
P.S.: You also need to read this about Kim Davis, in light of all of the mockery for her “hypocrisy” for what she did before she converted to Christianity a few years ago.
From Kentucky clerk won’t block, or authorize, gay marriage licenses | Reuters:
The county clerk from Kentucky jailed after refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples said Monday on her return to work she will not block her deputies from issuing them but will not authorize them. . . .,
Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, 49, who has said her beliefs as an Apostolic Christian prevent her from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, has been under the threat of returning to jail if she interfered in the issuance of licenses.
Davis said she doubted the validity of licenses that are set to be issued, which she said would state that they are being issued under U.S. District Judge David Bunning’s order.
Davis told a news conference any such licenses would not carry her name, title or personal authorization. She said she would take no action against deputy clerks who issued licenses but does not believe they have the authority to do so.
“I’m here before you this morning with a seemingly impossible choice that I do not wish on any of my fellow Americans: my conscience or my freedom,” Davis said.
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