Rowan County clerk Kim Davis has returned to work today and said that while she personally will not authorize the licenses, she will not block her deputies from issuing them, something that US district court judge David Bunning had sternly warned her from doing.
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It turns out that despite repeated defeats in the courts, Oklahoma has still not removed the Ten Commandments from the grounds of its capital building. The appeal by the state’s governor Mary Fallin to the state Supreme Court was rejected on July 27. Fallin then said that she had not received a direct order (from her god perhaps?) to remove the statue, clearly a stalling tactic to avoid taking any action.
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We have seen that some of those who object to same-sex marriage have thrown up road blocks by saying that they will have nothing to do with any marriage, same-sex or opposite-sex, and that this means they are not discriminating against same-sex couples and thus they are honoring both Jesus and the law. Of course, they are also not carrying out the duties of their office and, if ordered by the courts to do so, can be found in contempt if they continue to refuse, as has happened in the case of Kim Davis in Kentucky.
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Rowan County clerk Kim Davis has been released from jail. The odious Mike Huckabee just happened to be there at the time and seized on the fortuitous opportunity to make himself the center of attention and force Ted Cruz off the stage so that he could get hog all the attention. Didn’t the Bible teach Huckabee to share?
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[UPDATE: Federal judge David Bunning has ordered that Davis can be released from jail since five of the six deputy clerks have been issuing licenses to all qualified people and “provided that she shall not interfere in any way, directly or indirectly, with the efforts of her deputy clerks to issue marriage licenses to all legally eligible couples.” You can read the judge’s order here. It is not clear as yet if Davis agrees to those conditions. She is probably checking with Jesus who is wondering why the hell this woman keeps bugging him with her petty concerns.]
Rowan County clerk Kim Davis continues to be in jail for contempt for defying a federal judge’s order to issue marriage licenses. She has asked the governor of Kentucky to release her from jail so that, according to her lawyers, “she can do her job”, but he has refused to do so, which seems appropriate since not doing her job is what landed her in jail in the first place.
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And so it came to pass that same-sex couples received marriage licenses this morning from the Rowan County clerk’s office.
A gay couple emerged from the office of a defiant county clerk with a marriage license in hand Friday morning, embracing and crying after a lengthy standoff that landed the clerk in jail for her refusal to issue the licenses because she opposed same-sex marriage.
William Smith Jr. and James Yates, a couple for nearly a decade, were the first to receive a marriage license Friday morning in Rowan County. Deputy clerk Brian Mason issued the license, congratulating the couple and shaking their hands as he smiled. After the couple paid the license fee of $35.50, James Yates rushed across the steps of the courthouse to hug his mom as both cried.
A crowd of supporters cheered outside as the couple left, with a street preacher raining down words of condemnation. Yates and Smith said they are trying to choose between two wedding dates and plan a small ceremony.
Five of the six deputy clerks in the Rowan County clerk’s office decided that issuing marriage licenses to all who are legally entitled to them is perhaps not such a bad idea since David Bunning, the federal judge overseeing the case, told them that their only other option is to join Kim Davis is federal custody for contempt. Interestingly, and I am not sure why this was not more widely known before today, the sixth deputy who is still holding out happens to be her own son Nathan Davis. While a touching sign if filial loyalty, this also smacks of nepotism.
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Judge David Bunning has ordered Kim Davis to be jailed for contempt for defying court orders to issue licenses. She has already been taken into the custody of the federal marshal and will remain there until she agrees to comply with his orders.
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As Rowan County clerk Kim Davis goes to federal court today at 11:00 am to explain to the judge why she should not be held in contempt of court for violating court orders to do her job and issue marriage licenses, she may want to consider that the support for her position is not great from high-profile Republicans. Simon Maloy has rounded up the reactions of Republican presidential candidates. Certified nutcases Mike Huckabee and Bobby Jindal of course back Davis. Kentucky senator Rand Paul was vaguely supportive of Davis in an obfuscatory way designed to give him some flexibility to back away. Carly Fiorina, on the other hand, urges Davis to give up or resign. The other candidates, and senate majority leader Mitch McConnell who represents Kentucky, all seem to be ducking the issue. [UPDATE: Caitlin MacNeal provides more information on the candidates’ views.]
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I thought it interesting that US District Judge David Bunning requested that not only Rowan County clerk Kim Davis attend the hearing tomorrow at 11:00am following her defiance of his order but that all six of her deputy clerks attend as well. All of them are authorized to issue licenses too. It is known that four of them support her stance, one does not care much either way, and the sixth is willing to issue licenses. But all have been forbidden to do so by their boss on the grounds that since it is her name of the forms, that means she will go to hell even if the signature is that of her deputy, because her god is not very smart and unable to pick up on such subtleties
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