Gay couples ask judge to hold Ky. clerk in contempt

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Gay couples ask judge to hold Ky. clerk in contempt

Kentucky county official refused again Tuesday to issue marriage licenses.

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Mike Wynn, The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier Journal 11:31 a.m. EDT September 1, 2015

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David Moore and David Ermold confronted Rowan Clerk Kim Davis, who refused to issue the license. Michael Wynn, The C-J

Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, right, talks with David Moore following her office's refusal to issue marriage licenses at the Rowan County Courthouse in Morehead, Ky., Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2015.(Photo: Timothy D. Easley, AP)

MOREHEAD, Ky. — Lawyers asked a federal judge to hold a county clerk here in contempt of court Tuesday after she defied the Supreme Court and again refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.

The Supreme Court refused Monday to allow Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis’ office to deny the licenses because of her religious beliefs. However, on Tuesday morning, she denied the licenses to at least four couples.

David Moore and his partner, David Ermold, confronted Davis over the clerk's counter as crowd of supporters shouted for Davis to do her job.

"This is overwhelming. It feels ridiculous," Moore said after being refused. "Who has to go through this to get married? This is 2015. This is America. This is what we pay taxes for — to be treated like this, to be discriminated against?"

The issue brought large crowds to the courthouse. Dozens of Davis' supporters and critics were demonstrating outside, chanting and singing songs.

Later in the morning, lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union representing two gay couples filed a motion with a federal judge to hold Davis in contempt of court. They want her to be fined, not jailed.

An hour later Davis and her deputy clerks were notified to appear at an 11 a.m. Thursday hearing at U.S. District Court in Ashland, Ky., about an hour to the east. As an official, elected this past November, Davis can’t be fired.

Davis' lawyers at Orlando-based Liberty Counsel did not respond to requests for comment.

Monday's ruling from the Supreme Court, made without comment or apparent dissents, is an early indication that while some push-back against gay marriage on religious grounds may be upheld, the justices won't tolerate it from public officials. In one of the first tests of the court's June 26 decision upholding the rights of gays and lesbians to marry, Davis had argued that her Christian faith prevented her from recognizing such marriages.

Rather than deny only same-sex couples, which the high court had said would be unconstitutional, Davis chose to stop issuing marriage licenses altogether — and same-sex and opposite-sex couples sued her.

Davis argued that her refusal was not a major burden for the couples because Kentucky has more than 130 other marriage-licensing locations in other counties' clerk offices and branches. But federal district and appeals court judges refused to grant her wish, forcing Davis to seek the Supreme Court's intervention.

The conservative legal group Liberty Counsel filed her petition late last week.

"If a (same-sex marriage) license is issued with Davis’ name, authorization, and approval, no one can unring that bell," the petition said. "That searing act of validation would forever echo in her conscience."

When Moore and Ermold had their exchange with Davis, they asked under whose authority she was denying them.

"Under God's authority," she said.

At one point, the couple said they were not leaving without a license, and Davis told them they would be in for a long day.  Then she began walking back toward her office where she has remained with the door and blinds closed.

That's when Moore shouted for someone to call the police.

"You should be ashamed of yourself," he yelled. "Everyone in this office should be ashamed of themselves. Is this what you want to remember? Is this what you want to remember — that you stood up for this? That you children have to look at you and realize that you are a bigot and that you discriminated against people?"

Ermold and Moore have been together for 17 years. Davis has rejected their attempts to apply for a marriage license four times.

“I feel sad, I feel devastated,” Ermold said outside as he stood with protesters. “I feel like I’ve been humiliated on such a national level, I can’t even comprehend it.”

The high court's ruling doesn't end Davis' challenge, still pending at the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals — the same appellate court that previously allowed Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee to block same-sex marriage before Supreme Court justices overruled them. But it means that in the meantime, her office must issue marriage licenses.

Joe Davis, who came by the clerk's office to check on his wife, said he supports her convictions.

“They want us to accept their beliefs and their ways," he said of gay-rights protesters. "But they won’t accept our beliefs and our ways.”

Contributing: Richard Wolf, USA TODAY; The Associated Press

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Gay couples ask judge to hold Ky. clerk in contempt

323

Share This Story!Let friends in your social network know what you are reading about

Gay couples ask judge to hold Ky. clerk in contempt

Kentucky county official refused again Tuesday to issue marriage licenses.

Post to Facebook

Try Another

Audio CAPTCHA

Image CAPTCHA

Help

CancelSend

Sent!

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Posted!

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Mike Wynn, The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier Journal 11:31 a.m. EDT September 1, 2015

UP NEXT

03

David Moore and David Ermold confronted Rowan Clerk Kim Davis, who refused to issue the license. Michael Wynn, The C-J

Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, right, talks with David Moore following her office's refusal to issue marriage licenses at the Rowan County Courthouse in Morehead, Ky., Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2015.(Photo: Timothy D. Easley, AP)

MOREHEAD, Ky. — Lawyers asked a federal judge to hold a county clerk here in contempt of court Tuesday after she defied the Supreme Court and again refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.

The Supreme Court refused Monday to allow Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis’ office to deny the licenses because of her religious beliefs. However, on Tuesday morning, she denied the licenses to at least four couples.

David Moore and his partner, David Ermold, confronted Davis over the clerk's counter as crowd of supporters shouted for Davis to do her job.

"This is overwhelming. It feels ridiculous," Moore said after being refused. "Who has to go through this to get married? This is 2015. This is America. This is what we pay taxes for — to be treated like this, to be discriminated against?"

The issue brought large crowds to the courthouse. Dozens of Davis' supporters and critics were demonstrating outside, chanting and singing songs.

Later in the morning, lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union representing two gay couples filed a motion with a federal judge to hold Davis in contempt of court. They want her to be fined, not jailed.

An hour later Davis and her deputy clerks were notified to appear at an 11 a.m. Thursday hearing at U.S. District Court in Ashland, Ky., about an hour to the east. As an official, elected this past November, Davis can’t be fired.

Davis' lawyers at Orlando-based Liberty Counsel did not respond to requests for comment.

Monday's ruling from the Supreme Court, made without comment or apparent dissents, is an early indication that while some push-back against gay marriage on religious grounds may be upheld, the justices won't tolerate it from public officials. In one of the first tests of the court's June 26 decision upholding the rights of gays and lesbians to marry, Davis had argued that her Christian faith prevented her from recognizing such marriages.

Rather than deny only same-sex couples, which the high court had said would be unconstitutional, Davis chose to stop issuing marriage licenses altogether — and same-sex and opposite-sex couples sued her.

Davis argued that her refusal was not a major burden for the couples because Kentucky has more than 130 other marriage-licensing locations in other counties' clerk offices and branches. But federal district and appeals court judges refused to grant her wish, forcing Davis to seek the Supreme Court's intervention.

The conservative legal group Liberty Counsel filed her petition late last week.

"If a (same-sex marriage) license is issued with Davis’ name, authorization, and approval, no one can unring that bell," the petition said. "That searing act of validation would forever echo in her conscience."

When Moore and Ermold had their exchange with Davis, they asked under whose authority she was denying them.

"Under God's authority," she said.

At one point, the couple said they were not leaving without a license, and Davis told them they would be in for a long day.  Then she began walking back toward her office where she has remained with the door and blinds closed.

That's when Moore shouted for someone to call the police.

"You should be ashamed of yourself," he yelled. "Everyone in this office should be ashamed of themselves. Is this what you want to remember? Is this what you want to remember — that you stood up for this? That you children have to look at you and realize that you are a bigot and that you discriminated against people?"

Ermold and Moore have been together for 17 years. Davis has rejected their attempts to apply for a marriage license four times.

“I feel sad, I feel devastated,” Ermold said outside as he stood with protesters. “I feel like I’ve been humiliated on such a national level, I can’t even comprehend it.”

The high court's ruling doesn't end Davis' challenge, still pending at the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals — the same appellate court that previously allowed Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee to block same-sex marriage before Supreme Court justices overruled them. But it means that in the meantime, her office must issue marriage licenses.

Joe Davis, who came by the clerk's office to check on his wife, said he supports her convictions.

“They want us to accept their beliefs and their ways," he said of gay-rights protesters. "But they won’t accept our beliefs and our ways.”

Contributing: Richard Wolf, USA TODAY; The Associated Press

Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1FfMXNj

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