4:03pm
UPDATE: Kim Davis has refused to authorize her deputy clerks to issue licenses to same-sex couples, which places any licenses that the deputies may issue in "legal limbo". This means that they may not be valid without Davis' signature.
3:29pm
UPDATE: Kim Davis' son Nathan, a Rowan County deputy clerk, has refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The other five deputies have agreed to comply with court orders.
We all knew it was coming.
From ThinkProgress:
"Federal District Judge David Bunning held Kim Davis, the county clerk who has become a national symbol of anti-gay animus for her resistance to marriage equality, in contempt of court on Thursday. According to Dan Griffin, a reporter for local news station WSAZ, she was led out by U.S. Marshals. The judge reportedly said that financial sanctions were not enough to ensure her compliance with the law.
Davis says that she is 'prepared to go to jail' in order to maintain her stand against the Constitution, and that she believes that she is 'a vessel God has chosen for this time and this place.' She also claims that “this is a heaven or hell issue for me and for every other Christian that believes,” so it is unclear what sanction Bunning could impose on her — short of a legally controversial move such as removing her from office — that would cause her to comply with the law."
With this news, Davis and other government officials around the country can take a lesson to heart: if you don't do your job, you will be punished not because of your religious beliefs, but for your failure to fulfill your oath.
While the media circus around Rowan County isn't over, couples may finally be able to tie the knot. In an interview with The Kentucky Trial Court Review, Cecil Watkins, the Rowan County Attorney, has stated that Davis' fight with the courts has nothing to do with her deputy clerks and employees. The Review reports that "deputy clerks would issue lawful marriage licenses. They are simply afraid to do so. And if Judge Bunning instructs them to do so . . . they will. Davis has put, in the words of Watkins, her employees and everyone in the courthouse in a 'terrible position.'" When Davis' employees emerge from under Davis' thumb, they will do their jobs and same-sex couples will be able to get on with their lives.