The U.S. Supreme Court has just issued a response to the Kentucky clerk refusing to issue marriage licenses because same-sex couples marrying violates her religious beliefs.
Kim Davis may be out of options.
The U.S. Supreme Court has just said it will not place a stay on a ruling by U.S. District Court judge David Bunning that ordered Davis to issue licenses to married couples regardless of gender. On Friday, Davis’s attorneys had asked the Court to intervene, saying forcing her to issue licenses to same-sex couples is a violation of her First Amendment rights.
Davis’ attorneys told Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan that Davis is “a devout Christian” who “has faithfully and devotedly served the public in the Rowan County clerk’s office for nearly thirty years.” They said she is seeking “asylum for her conscience,” and should the Court refuse her request for an emergency stay of Judge Bunning’s ruling, “then elected officials have no real religious freedom when they take public office.”Â
Justice Kagan chose to send the request to the full court. Davis would have had to have at least three justices agree to hear her request, but it was denied, indicating there were not.
LOOK:Â Want Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis Fired? Rowan County Officials Are Trying
Her attorneys, in a stunning choice of words, also claimed the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell, “demands that she either fall in line (her conscience be damned) or leave office (her livelihood and job for three-decades in the clerk’s office be damned).”
UPDATE I: 8:01 PM EDT –
The AP reports Davis “will arrive at work Tuesday morning to face her moment of truth,” and “will have to choose whether to issue marriage licenses, defying her Christian conviction, or continue to refuse them, defying a federal judge who could pummel her with fines or order that she be hauled off to jail.”
“She’s going to have to think and pray about her decision overnight. She certainly understands the consequences either way,” Mat Staver, founder of the law firm representing Davis, said on Monday, hours before a court-ordered delay in the case expired. “She’ll report to work tomorrow, and face whatever she has to face.”
UPDATE II: Â Sept. 1 – 8:30 AM EDT –
Breaking Video: Defiant Kim Davis Denies Same-Sex Couples Marriage Licenses ‘Under God’s Authority’
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EARLIER:
Will Kim Davis Face Criminal Prosecution?
Breaking: Kim Davis Being Sued By Couple Denied Marriage License Three Times
Deadline Passes. Kim Davis Re-Appeals. Has Not Issued Any Marriage Licenses. Is She In Contempt?
RELATED:
‘Her Conscience Be Damned’: Kim Davis Files Emergency SCOTUS Request To Intervene In Marriage Case
Kentucky Clerk: ‘I’m Going To Fight And Die For’ My Right To Not Issue Same-Sex Marriage Licenses
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Image by Elvert Barnes via Flickr and a CC license