Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis is enduring her third day in jail Saturday after sleeping soundly and in good conscience, according to her attorney Matthew Staver of the public interest law firm Liberty Counsel.
Federal Judge David Bunning jailed Davis on Thursday after she has consistently refused court orders to begin issuing marriage licenses in Rowan County. Davis, a Democrat and a recent convert to Christianity, says she will issue no marriage licenses to anyone because it would entail affixing her name to the license something she cannot do in the case of same-sex couples.
An elected official who cannot be removed except by election or impeachment, Davis hasn’t issued any licenses since the June 26 Supreme Court imposition of same-sex marriage on the entire country.
On Friday Staver issued a statement comparing Davis to others who have gone to jail over issues of conscience, including Martin Luther King, Jr. Jan Huss, John Bunyan, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Staver said, “We can only hope future generations look back on this moment with disgust at what happened and admiration for a woman who may be incarcerated but whose conscience remains free.”
For his part, Davis’s husband called Judge Bunning a “coward and a punk” for the actions Bunning has taken. Bunning could have fined Davis but chose jail instead, something the plaintiffs in the case didn’t even ask for, because Bunning said Davis’s supporters would simply have paid her fine.
Christian leaders come down on both sides of the issue of whether Davis is in the right or wrong.
Hunter Baker of Union University said, “Kim Davis’s office is obligated to perform the state function of issuing wedding certificates.”
Francis Beckwith of Baylor University quotes Martin Luther King, Jr., “One has not only a legal, but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.”
Joe Carter of the Acton Institute said: “The state of Kentucky had two ways to deal with an elected official like Davis: impeachment or accommodation of her religious beliefs. Either option would have resolved the issue and established a precedent. Instead, a federal court rushed to intervene and brought in men with guns to throw the clerk in jail—and resolved nothing. Americans need to decide how much longer we’re going to allow judges to circumvent the will of the people.”
Maggie Gallagher of American Principles in Action said, “If Kim Davis languishes in jail, it’s because Democrats want her there as a symbol of their power to redefine Christianity as hatred and bigotry. And because the Republicans do not have the guts to contest it.”
Warren Cole Smith of World Magazine said, “I would not argue that the legal case of Kim Davis is strong. She is, or appears to be, breaking the law. But I would also argue that just because she is breaking the law doesn’t mean she is wrong, or that she is undermining the rule of law. She is exercising civil disobedience in a profound and honorable way.”
Breitbart News will cover the ordeal of Kim Davis every day until the matter is resolved.
Follow Austin Ruse on Twitter @austinruse
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