Gay couples in Kentucky question validity of marriage licenses

Gay couples in Kentucky are questioning the validity of altered marriage licenses issued by a defiant county clerk and have asked a federal judge to order her to reissue the licenses or put the office in receivership and have someone else do it.

Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis stopped issuing all marriage licenses in June after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling effectively legalized gay marriage nationwide. Two gay couples and two straight couples sued her. A federal judge ordered Davis to issue the licenses, and the U.S. Supreme Court upheld that order.

But Davis refused, citing "God's authority." That's when U.S. District Court Judge David Bunning threw her in jail, prompting a fierce debate in the public square about religious liberty versus the civil rights afforded to all U.S. citizens.

Davis' office issued marriage licenses while she was in jail, but the licenses did not include her name. U.S. District Judge David Bunning ruled those licenses were valid and released Davis on the condition that she not interfere with her employees.

When she returned to work last week, she confiscated the marriage licenses and replaced them. The new licenses say they were issued not under the authority of the county clerk, but "pursuant to federal court order." Davis said this accommodation preserves her conscience while also granting licenses to same-sex couples.

But on Monday, lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union wrote that the validity of the altered licenses is "questionable at best," and that the new licenses bring "humiliation and stigma" to the gay couples who receive them. They asked U.S. District Judge David Bunning to order Davis' office to reissue the licenses. If Davis interferes, the lawyers say Bunning should place her office in a receivership for the purposes of issuing marriage licenses.

Mat Staver, Davis' attorney and founder of the Liberty Counsel law firm, did not directly respond to the ACLU's request for Bunning to put the office in a receivership. Staver said he would formally respond to the ACLU's motion on Tuesday. But he noted that Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear said last week the altered marriage licenses would be recognized by the state.

The Associated Press