Appeals court orders Kentucky clerk to issue same-sex marriage licenses
[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit [official website] on Wednesday ordered [text, PDF] Kimberly Davis, the Rowan County Clerk of Courts [official website] in Kentucky, to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Davis is currently appealing [JURIST report] a preliminary injunction [order, PDF] by the US District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky [official website] that banned her from instituting her own marriage licensing policy in which she refused to give licenses to same-sex couples. Davis claims issuing such licenses would violate her religious freedom. The court stated that since the US Supreme Court [official website] legalized gay marriage in Obergefell v. Hodges [opinion, PDF; JURIST report], Davis in her position as clerk of courts cannot be exempted from her duties to issue marriage licenses in accordance with the decision:
In light of the binding holding of Obergefell, it cannot be defensibly argued that the holder of the Rowan County Clerk’s office, apart from who personally occupies that office, may decline to act in conformity with the United States Constitution as interpreted by a dispositive holding of the United States Supreme Court. There is thus little or no likelihood that the Clerk in her official capacity will prevail on appeal.Introductions of religious exemption bills and refusals to issue licenses have been occurring around the country. In July a federal judge issued a court order [JURIST report] that all Louisiana officials must grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Earlier that month a judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of Alabama issued an order [JURIST report] that all Alabama counties must abide by the Supreme Court ruling allowing same-sex marriage. In June the North Carolina House of Representatives passed a law [JURIST report] that would allow some court officials to refuse to perform same-sex marriages based on their religious beliefs, overriding a veto [JURIST report] by Governor Pat McCroy. In May Louisiana legislatures rejected a religious objections bill [JURIST report] that was pushed by Governor Bobby Jindal. A House legal committee voted 10-2 [AP report] to kill the bill, ending weeks of serious debate. However, in an effort to solicit Christian conservatives for his likely presidential bid in 2016, Jindal immediately responded by issuing an executive order aimed at doing essentially the same thing as the bill, just on a smaller scale.
No comments:
Post a Comment