Kentucky Clerk Sues State Over Same-Sex Marriage

[Webster]

....like the article says, it takes a very special kind of chutzpah to do this kind of and continue to work as a public servant...

(AmericaBlog) Rowan County, Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis, who may in fact be on her fourth marriage, has sued Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear over his executive order requiring county clerks to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision affirming marriage equality.

You’ll remember Kim Davis from the viral video showing her refusing to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple last month. In her lawsuit, Davis claims that her religious beliefs entitle her to refuse to participate in same-sex marriages, despite her status as a public official. From the Lexington Herald-Leader: Late Tuesday, Davis filed a lawsuit against Beshear in federal district court. She blamed the governor for instructing all 120 of the state’s county clerks to comply with this summer’s U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized gay marriage.

Beshear’s stance left dissenting county clerks vulnerable to lawsuits, including two that she currently faces, filed by groups of her constituents, Davis said. U.S. District Judge David Bunning is expected to rule in these cases in coming days.

You read that right. According to Davis, instructing a state government to comply with the Supreme Court of the United States — our country’s final arbiter of what is legal and what isn’t — is itself illegal. Because she thinks the Bible says they’re wrong. So there.

Davis’s lawsuit could serve as a test for how far Religious Freedom Restoration Acts extend into the public sphere. Kentucky has such a law on the books — passed over Beshear’s veto — that protects “sincerely held religious beliefs” from government interference without a compelling state interest. One would think that, on general principle, requiring public officials to perform the public functions assigned to them would be a compelling state interest, but Davis disagrees.

While Davis is the plaintiff in this case, she is the defendant in multiple lawsuits filed by couples in Kentucky who have been denied marriage licenses by her. If Davis wins her lawsuit, she could force the state to pay the legal fees she is incurring in the multiple cases being brought against her.

Once again, since this somehow bears repeating, it’s patently obvious that Davis’s claim has nothing to do with religious liberty and everything to do with Christian privilege. I’m not sure if there are any Jewish or Muslim clerks in Kentucky, but I am absolutely sure that if they refused to execute a similar law over their sincerely-held religious beliefs, Davis and Christian conservatives like her wouldn’t be coming to their defense. How do I know? Because they’re actively fighting against religious freedom for members of other faiths —particularly Muslims — every chance they get.

Just because members of the Christian faith have had the government on their side for a very long time doesn’t mean that they ever should have. And it doesn’t mean that they get to decide which laws to follow, especially when it is literally their job to execute the law.

To sue your employer for asking you to do your job takes a special kind of chutzpah. Then again, it’s the same kind that it takes to claim ardent devotion to the sanctity of marriage while on your fourth spouse.

 

[WHO IS SERAFIN]

Good for her. Again the supreme court decision had nothing to do with rule of law but feelings. So good for her to fight the good fight.