The Plot Thickens In Casey County Marriage Debacle

As many of us here in the Bluegrass state are waiting on the ruling from District Court Judge Browning, more personal details are surfacing about the clerks in question- particularly about Casey Davis. Turns out, back in 2006, he led a protest against a gay playwright by the name of Jeff Key, who is also a former marine. Key was offering a performance of a new piece of work he’d written, and it was to be performed at a public park. The play was entitled The Eyes Of Babylon, and it entails his tour of duty in Iraq.

Davis was quoted in a news article as saying:

“He needs to understand that he is not welcome here… This is not a hate thing, only a warning for people to know what they are getting themselves into.”

Of course, claiming certain people aren’t welcome in his town but it’s “not a hate thing”, and then to further the message as a warning for people to understand “what they are getting themselves into”, is very disturbing. I’d say borderline threatening. We need to get this guy out of the clerk’s office once and for all. It should be noted that this quote isn’t just coming from the lips of a county court clerk, but that of a Separate Baptist minister. That’s right, Casey Davis is a clergyman. He is the pastor of Edinburgh Separate Baptist Church.  He is also in charge of issuing marriage licensing to the general public in Casey County, and I am trying to figure out how the job description, coupled with his ministry, didn’t send off warning flags regarding conflict of interest.

This is a problem I had spoken about in a podcast this week: religious clergy in our statehouses, or in local government. How there are pastors getting into government offices to legislate their views, or you can take the highway to their legislated Hell. The walls between church and state are being intentionally blurred, and tax payers are then footing the bill when the issues are taken to court because of the blurring.

Media is speculating that there will not be a decision until later next week as to whether Davis has the right, along with Kentucky’s other clerks, to deny issuing licenses for marriage due to religious belief- despite their job description of serving the public and upholding the law.

Read more here.

Casey County Kentucky Marriage License Battle Proceeds To Courts

You can almost hear the soundtrack to your favorite soap opera start playing in your mind as you read the coverage of Casey County’s marriage license battle. For those of you unfamiliar, here is the quick break down. Two clerks, one in Casey and one in Rowan counties, Kentucky, have refused to issue marriage licenses to anyone since the Supreme Court’s findings in regards to same-sex marriage recognition. Governor Beshear has prompted them to drop the religious reasons defense and either do their job or resign. Neither clerk will comply with the governor’s demands, citing that they shouldn’t have to violate their personal religious beliefs while doing their job.

As a result, there are four couples now suing one of the clerks, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t sue the state of Kentucky since the governor won’t just outright fire these two clerks for insubordination. Well, yesterday the plot thickened when U.S. District Judge David L. Bunning agreed to hear arguments from the embattled clerks that they have every right to not issue licenses based on religious beliefs, despite being in a public office that is mostly about issuing licenses. Court proceedings began yesterday, July 13th, and right now it appears Judge Bunning is acknowledging the inevitable from the Tweets shared below on Daily KOS. There is also a quote floated out by ACLU of Kentucky, where Judge Bunning said:

“I took an oath to uphold the law…The Supreme Court made its ruling. From a constitutional, 14th amendment perspective, there’s a fundamental right to marry for both same-sex and opposite-sex couples…I am here to uphold the constitution.” ‪

Unfortunately, the ruling has been put off as one of the clerks has made the claim that since she didn’t get proper notice of the suit, the judge has no legal jurisdiction over her. This is simply a stall tactic, of course, but Judge Bunning has suspended the case until the know-it-all clerk has been appropriately notified. It’s being said a decision could come down next week according to a news piece on CBS. Additionally, there is also Billy Joe Lowe, a clerk of Green County, told WFPL-FM on Thursday that his office would not accept license applications from same-sex couples. I’ve not read any news as far as civil action yet against his office, but I would hope that once Casey county has been dealt with, he’ll take the appropriate steps to get his office back to work getting folks married. CBS news covers the highlights of this story, and as more details emerge, I’ll update with a new post. Here’s an excerpt below.

Via CBS:

ASHLAND, Ky. – A federal judge is scheduled to hear arguments about a county clerk who is refusing to issue marriage licenses after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling legalizing same-sex marriage. Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis is one of a handful of local officials across the country who have refused to comply with the court’s order. Davis and others say it violates their religious beliefs.

The American Civil Liberties Union sued Davis on behalf of two gay couples and two straight couples who were denied licenses. Davis told the Louisville Courier-Journal said that her “deep religious convictions” prevent her from complying with the Supreme Court’s decision, and so she has decided to issue no more marriage licenses to any couple — gay or straight.

“It’s a deep-rooted conviction,” Davis was quoted by the Associated Press. “My conscience won’t allow me to do that. It goes against everything I hold dear, everything sacred in my life.”