A federal judge ruled on Friday that former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis violated the constitutional rights of two gay couples when she refused to marry them.
The US Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have the right to marry in the same year that Kim Davis went to jail for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. In her refusal, she said she was holding the word of God.
The judge in the Eastern District of Kentucky said that the opinion of the court was that Davis violated the constitutional right to marry.
Will Smith and James Yates were among the couples she refused to marry. Two couples filed civil suits against her.
Despite the fact that Davis read and understood the Obergefell decision, she still told her employees not to issue the marriage licenses.
The ruling said that Davis told the Ermold Plaintiffs that she could not give them a marriage license.
Ermold and Moore applied for marriage licenses twice more, and Smith and Yates applied for marriage licenses four more times. Two groups of people were granted marriage licenses by a deputy clerk while Davis was in jail, according to court documents.
It seems plausible that Davis could have acted with reckless indifference to the constitutional rights of the people. Even though Obergefell forbade states from denying same-sex couples the right to marry, she still refused to issue marriage licenses to the couples.
After the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage, the clerk of Rowan County stopped issuing marriage licenses. Her staff began to issue licenses in her absence after she was held in contempt of court. After she was released from jail, Davis switched to the Republican party.
Davis lost her reelection bid. David Ermold was one of the people that Davis denied a marriage license to. Davis lost to Caudill.
A federal appeals court ruled that Davis could be sued for damages. She was protected from being sued when she was the county clerk.
The Supreme Court ruling did not apply to Davis because she stopped issuing marriage licenses to everyone, not just gay couples. The appeals court ruled that the argument was sweeping.
A trial date is likely to be set for April 1, when the next court date is. According to court documents, both couples are seeking an amount as well as the cost of attorneys.
Attorney Michael Gartland, who represents Ermold and Moore, told WKYT that they could not be more happy.
The case has been pending since 2015. They are happy that they will get their day in court and they are confident that justice will be served.
The attorneys for Smith and Yates told Insider they were thrilled that the judge agreed that the constitutional right to marry was violated.
James and Will are happy that we can move on with our lives and put this awful time of their life behind them.
Liberty Counsel, who is representing Davis, argued that a finding of liability would violate the First Amendment Free Exercise of Religion.
Liberty Counsel will continue to argue that Davis is not liable for damages because she was entitled to a religious accommodation.
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