Clerk summoned to court in Kentucky marriage license dispute

UPDATE: The federal judge who first ordered a Kentucky county clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples has summoned the clerk and her staff to court for a hearing Thursday. According to a ruling by U.S. District Judge David Bunning, Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis should have started issuing marriage licenses to all couples this morning after the Supreme Court refused to intervene in her case. But Davis has refused, saying she is acting on God’s authority.

Lawyers for the two same-sex couples who originally sued Davis asked Bunning today to find her in contempt, but punish her with only financial fines, not jail time.

“Since Defendant Davis continues to collect compensation from the Commonwealth for duties she fails to perform,” they asked Bunning to “impose financial penalties sufficiently serious and increasingly onerous.”

UPDATE (9:27 a.m.): So far this morning, Rowan County, Ky., Clerk Kim Davis has declined requests for marriage licenses from two same-sex couples in defiance of a court order. Davis said she was operating “on God’s authority.”

Supporters from both sides of the debate congregated outside the Rowan County courthouse this morning and chanted at each other. Those in favor of same-sex marriage have asked the American Civil Liberties Union to request that a court hold Davis in contempt. That could mean fines or jail time for her.

Randy Smith, leading the group supporting Davis, said he knows following their instruction to “stand firm” might mean Davis goes to jail on contempt charges, but at the end of the day, we have to stand before God, which has higher authority than the Supreme Court.”

OUR EARLIER STORY (Aug. 31, 8:40 p.m.): The Supreme Court has denied a Kentucky county clerk’s emergency appeal of a ruling forcing her to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. A district court and the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals already ruled against Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, who argues same-sex marriage runs counter to her deeply held religious beliefs.

After the Supreme Court ruled this summer that same-sex couples had the right to marry, Davis stopped issuing all marriage licenses from her office. Two same-sex couples and two opposite couples sued her. A federal district judge ruled against her but stayed the ruling until today. A panel of judges from the 6th Circuit agreed, writing, “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.”

Davis appealed to the Supreme Court for “asylum for her conscience” while the court considered whether to take her case. Justice Elena Kagan, who oversees the 6th district, referred Davis’ request to the full court, which denied the stay without comment.

In her stay request, Davis proposed several ways the government could accommodate her religious beliefs. She suggested removing her name from marriage licenses or allowing the chief executive of Rowan County to issue them, according to Liberty Counsel, which is representing her. With the stay expiring at the end of the day today, unclear what Davis will do next.

“She’s going to have to think and pray about her decision overnight. She certainly understands the consequences either way,” said Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel. “She’ll report to work tomorrow, and face whatever she has to face.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.