Kim Davis Still Hindering Kentucky Marriage Licenses, ACLU Says In Court Motion

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a motion Monday saying the Rowan County, Kentucky, clerk’s office had not complied with instructions to issue marriage licenses without interference from clerk Kim Davis. Davis gained national attention earlier in September when she refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples over her own personal religious beliefs.

“It’s sad that Ms. Davis has continued to interfere with the basic constitutional right of all loving couples to marry and that the plaintiff couples have to ask the court to intervene once again,” said James Esseks, director of the ACLU’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Project, in a statement.

The ACLU’s motion said that licenses were altered under Davis’ direction with a deputy signing them as a notary instead of as a deputy clerk and without any reference to the Rowan County office. The licenses also said they were issued due to a court order, according to the ACLU. The ACLU argued that all of these alterations violated a Sept. 3 court order.

Davis returned to work earlier this month after spending four days in jail. She said she would refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, but would not stand in the way of her co-workers.

“I am here before you this morning with a seemingly impossible choice, which I do not wish on any of my fellow Americans,” she said at a news conference Sept. 14. “My conscience or my freedom. My conscience or my ability to serve the people that I love. Obey God or a directive that forces me to disobey God.”

Davis called the licenses that her deputies would have to issue “unauthorized.” “Instead, the license will state that they are issued pursuant to a federal court order,” Davis said.

The ACLU filing asked that the same licenses be issued to couples before Davis interfered in the process and that clerks be instructed to disregard any directions from Davis that do not follow the court’s ruling.