Will Kim Davis Face Criminal Prosecution?

Kim Davis could face not only civil lawsuits, but criminal prosecution if she continues to refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Could Rowan County clerk Kim Davis serve jail time for refusing to issue marriage licenses?

Louisville, Kentucky’s Courier-Journal this afternoon reports Davis “could face criminal prosecution.” The conservative Christian Rowan County Clerk who has refused to issue marriage licenses because, she claims, it would “irreparably” harm her conscience and violate her religious liberty, “is headed toward her day of reckoning, and it may include time behind bars,” the local newspaper states.

Last week, William Smith, Jr. and James Yates requested the Rowan County Attorney file a charge of “official misconduct” against Davis for not issuing them – or any couple – a marriage license. Official misconduct, the Courier-Journal notes, “is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 365 days in jail.”

UPDATE: BREAKING: Supreme Court Denies Kim Davis’ Request For Emergency Intervention

Smith and Yates asked Rowan County Attorney Cecil Watkins to file the charge. Watkins referred it to the State Attorney General, Democrat Jack Conway, who has yet to act on the request. Conway is running for governor in the conservative state, but his spokesperson said the couple’s request “will be handled according to the protocol of our office and handled appropriately.”

But Davis’ attorneys disagree with the charge.

LOOK: Deadline Passes. Kim Davis Re-Appeals. Has Not Issued Any Marriage Licenses. Is She In Contempt?

“Kim Davis is no criminal,” Davis’ lawyer from the anti-gay hate group Liberty Counsel insists. “It has never been a crime to exercise the rights of conscience guaranteed by the US and Kentucky Constitutions and the Kentucky Religious Freedom Restoration Act.”

Meanwhile, Davis appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court Friday evening, but in a somewhat surprising move, the Court did not even respond. It is under no obligation to do so, nor under any deadline.

Davis is already being sued in federal court by four couples. A ruling in that case prompted Davis to seek a stay from that court, which denied it, and from the 6th Circuit, which also denied it, leading to the Supreme Court motion.

But, as NCRM just reported, Davis is also being sued now by Smith and Yates. Summonses are expected to be delivered to Davis and others this week.

A Change.org petition is asking the governor of Kentucky to make sure the State does not pay Davis’ legal fees.

 

EARLIER:

Kim Davis Issued Marriage License To Trans Man: ‘She Saw Just A Straight Couple In Love’ He Says At Rally

Want Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis Fired? Rowan County Officials Are Trying

‘Her Conscience Be Damned’: Kim Davis Files Emergency SCOTUS Request To Intervene In Marriage Case

 

Image: Protest against Kim Davis. Photo by ACLU of Kentucky via Facebook.