Kentucky Clerk Ordered to Issue Same-sex Marriage Licenses Sues Governor
- Updated Aug 06, 2015
A Kentucky county clerk is suing the governor for forcing her to issue same-sex marriage licenses, which she says violates her religious beliefs.
Kim Davis, a clerk for Kentucky’s Rowan County is being defended by Liberty Counsel in a federal court case brought against her by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). One News Now reports that Davis and Liberty Counsel are counter-suing, citing religious discrimination.
The ACLU is backing Governor Steve Beshear who, according to a Liberty Counsel press release, stated, “Neither your [the clerk’s] oath nor the Supreme Court dictates what you must believe. But as elected officials, they do prescribe how we must act.”
Davis’s Liberty Counsel attorney Roger Gannam is contending that the Governor is violating two specific laws. Firstly, Kentucky’s Constitutional protection of religious freedom, and secondly, Kentucky’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act which, Gannam asserts, "like its federal counterpart, restores the protection of free exercise of religion."
Publication date: August 6, 2015
