Another court won’t take on Kim Davis’ lawsuit over gay marriage licences
Kim Davis with Mat Staver (Getty)
Kim Davis has lost her latest appeal, as a federal court said it would not take on her lawsuit against the state of Kentucky.
The county clerk-turned-jailbird, sued the state last year, after various courts ruled that she had to issue marriage licences to same-sex couples.
She served five days in jail for continually refusing to obey lower courts’ rulings instructing her to stop discriminating against gay people.
Her latest appeal, in a lawsuit against former Governor Steve Beshear and another state official, has been rejected by the federal appeals court.
Beshear left his post in December.
The court ruled that Davis is not experiencing irreparable harm, but Davis herself is still being sued by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) for her discrimination.
The latter lawsuit may still go ahead.
Kentucky earlier this year passed a sensible piece of legislation which means there is only one kind of marriage licence – for all sexual orientations.
Surprisingly, Davis came out against a law to segregate marriage licences for same-sex couples.
Rather than under the authority of clerk Kim Davis, new Rowan County licenses state they have been issued “pursuant to Federal Court Order” – with Davis agreeing to let her deputies issue the modified licenses to same-sex couples.
Following the change, United States District Judge David Bunning ruled today that Davis is now compliant with the law, as she is no longer blocking same-sex weddings from taking place.
The American Civil Liberties Union had raised concerns about the legality of the licenses, but Branning denied their motion on the grounds that the state considers them valid.
It comes after the state’s new Republican Governor Matt Bevin – a strong ally of Kim Davis –pushed forward plans to change all Kentucky marriage licenses to line up with the ones Davis modified.
