MOREHEAD, Ky. — Undaunted in her religious faith but facing the specter of another courtroom reckoning, Kim Davis, the Rowan County clerk who was jailed for defying a federal judge’s order that she issue marriage licenses, said Monday that she
MOREHEAD, Ky. — Undaunted in her religious faith but facing the specter of another courtroom reckoning, Kim Davis, the Rowan County clerk who was jailed for defying a federal judge’s order that she issue marriage licenses, said Monday that she would not stop her employees from processing licenses for same-sex couples.
But the condition that Davis attached to her admittedly makeshift solution — that the licenses would lack her authorization — was the latest indication that her protracted legal and political battles would not go away soon. Davis’ strategy could spur new litigation to challenge the disputed licenses, and it was unclear how Judge David L. Bunning of U.S. District Court, who jailed Davis on Sept. 3, would respond.
“Ms. Davis hopes that these good-faith measures will be sufficient to satisfy the plaintiffs and the court, and that she will not have to, once again, be incarcerated for exercising her faith and not abandoning her convictions,” one of her lawyers, Harry Mihet, said. “She understands and she recognizes, however, that there are significant problems with this emergency stopgap approach.”
But the severity and depth of any such problems and questions, especially those focused on whether licenses issued without Davis’ consent were legal, were essentially matters of rhetoric on Monday. Davis raised doubts about the licenses, but Mihet would not say whether the clerk would ask a court to intervene. A spokeswoman said that state Attorney General Jack Conway, who has not issued a formal opinion, believed the licenses were valid.
Gov. Steven L. Beshear, who has rebuffed Davis’ requests that he call the legislature into special session to address the marriage-related duties of clerks, echoed Conway’s assessment.
Speaking to reporters in Louisville, Beshear said the licenses issued by Davis’ office “substantially comply with the law in Kentucky, and they’re going to be recognized as valid in the commonwealth.”
“I just want to serve my neighbors quietly,” Davis said, “without violating my conscience.”
To balance her religious convictions with Bunning’s demands, she said, the licenses would not carry her authorization; instead, they would bear a notation that they were issued “pursuant to federal court order.”
