Kentucky clerk again refuses to issue marriage licenses to gay couples

On Tuesday morning, Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis' office denied at least two couples marriage licenses. At first, Davis remained in her office with the door closed and blinds drawn. But she emerged a few minutes later, telling the couples and activists gathered there that her office will continue to refuse to issue marriage licenses "under God's authority."

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to intervene in the case, leaving Davis no legal grounds to refuse to grant the licenses. A district judge could now hold her in contempt of court, which can carry steep fines or jail time. As an elected official, Davis can't be fired; the state legislature could impeach her.

Davis asked David Moore and David Ermold to leave her office after they were denied a license Tuesday morning — the couple's fourth rejection. They refused, surrounded by reporters and cameras.

"We're not leaving until we have a license," Ermold said.

"Then you're going to have a long day," Davis told him.

From the back of the room, Davis' supporters said, "Praise the Lord! ... Stand your ground."

Other activists shouted that Davis is a bigot and told her, "Do your job."

Davis has said her deeply held Christian beliefs don't let her endorse extending marriage to same-sex couples.

She stopped issuing all marriage licenses in the days after the Supreme Court legalized marriage nationwide for all couples, regardless of sex. Two gay couples and two straight couples sued her, arguing that she must fulfill her duties as an elected official despite her religious beliefs.

A federal judge ordered her to issue the licenses, and an appeals court upheld that decision. Her lawyers with the Liberty Counsel filed a last-ditch appeal to the Supreme Court on Friday, asking that it grant her "asylum for her conscience."

Justice Elena Kagan, who oversees the 6th Circuit, referred Davis' request to the full court, which denied the stay without comment.

After Tuesday's denials, the ACLU filed a motion in Kentucky federal court asking the judge to find Davis in contempt. A hearing on the matter is set for Thursday, the ACLU said in a release. 

"It is unfortunate that we’ve been compelled to take further action today to ensure that the people of Rowan County can obtain the marriage licenses they’re entitled to receive from their county clerk’s office," Stephen R. Shapiro, the ACLU's legal director, said in a press release. "The law is clear, and the courts have spoken. The duty of public officials is to enforce the law, not place themselves above it."

Shortly after Davis' remarks in her office, the sheriff's office cleared the building of supporters from both sides of the issue.

The two groups lined up on the lawn, on either side of the courthouse entrance to chant at each other. 

Randy Smith, leading the group supporting Davis, said he knows following their instruction to "stand firm" means Davis could go to jail. "But at the end of the day, we have to stand before God, which has higher authority than the Supreme Court," he said.

Ermold hugged Moore, his partner of 17 years, and they cried and swayed as they left the clerk's office. Davis' supporters marched by, chanting.

"I feel sad. I feel devastated," Ermold said. "I feel like I've been humiliated on such a national level, I can't even comprehend it."

The Associated Press