Posted on 09/04/2015 8:45:19 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Defying legal decisions that go all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, Kim Davis, the Rowan County, Ky.., clerk, continued to deny marriage licenses on Wednesday in protest of same-sex marriage.
As Kentucky Public Radio's Ryland Barton reports, Davis, who has become a divisive figure in the national debate on same-sex marriage, has been summoned to a federal court on Thursday for a hearing on whether to hold her in contempt.
With that, here's what we know about Davis:
— She's A Born-Again Christian: The Associated Press reports that Davis' life changed in a church about four years ago.
The preacher, according to the AP, was speaking about the book of Galatians, and Davis repented for her sins and "pledged the rest of her life to the service of the Lord."
In a statement, Davis explained that she decided to go to church that day to honor the dying wish of her mother-in-law.
"There I heard a message of grace and forgiveness and surrendered my life to Jesus Christ," she wrote. "I am not perfect. No one is. But I am forgiven and I love my Lord and must be obedient to Him and to the Word of God."
— She Has Cited Her Religious Views For Her Stance: Davis has said her religious beliefs have driven her to deny same-sex couples marriage licenses.
In court, she testified that she prayed and fasted before making the decision to defy the highest court of the land.
"It wasn't just a spur-of-the-moment decision," she testified, according to The Courier-Journal. "It was thought out, and I sought God on it."
The newspaper reports:
"On the stand ... Davis described herself as an Apostolic Christian who believes marriage is defined as the union of one man and one woman under the Bible — 'God's holy word' — and said she contemplated her policy for months beforehand.
"She choked back tears at times as she argued that issuing licenses under her name would violate her religious beliefs, even if a deputy clerk performs the task in her stead.
" 'If I say they are authorized, I'm saying I agree with it, and I can't,' Davis said."
— Davis Has Been Divorced Three Times: According to marriage licenses obtained by BuzzFeed, Davis has been married four times — twice to the same man.
She first married at age 18 in 1984. She later married Joe Davis in 1996. She married a third time in 2007 and then married Davis again in 2009.
Her marriage record has been used by critics to point out what they see as Davis' hypocrisy. During a tense standoff with a gay couple on Tuesday, one man pointedly asked her what was the longest she had been with one partner.
In response, Davis' attorney said that Davis acknowledged she had made "major mistakes" in the past.
"She's regretful and sorrowful," her attorney Mat Staver said, according to the AP. "That life she led before is not the life she lives now. She asked for and received forgiveness and grace. That's why she has such a strong conscience."
— She Was Elected To Her Position: Davis, a Democrat, won a 2014 election for Rowan County clerk handily — 53 percent to 46 percent.
Davis took the keys of the office from her mother, Jean Bailey, who held the position for 37 years.
The night Davis won, she gave an interview to The Morehead News.
"My words can never express the appreciation but I promise to each and every one that I will be the very best working clerk that I can be and will be a good steward of their tax dollars and follow the statutes of this office to the letter," Davis said.
— She Can't Be Fired: Because Davis is an elected official and is accountable to the voters, she can't be fired from her job.
According to a report by the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, Davis would have to be removed by the legislature. According to the Kentucky constitution, she would have to be impeached by the state's House of Representatives and tried by the state's Senate.
As the Research Commission points out, "because it is a reversal of the inherent power of the people in a democratic society to choose those who govern, it is a power rarely exercised."
One other fact, often neglected, is that the queers had another source for the marriage license, but refused to use it in order to force this.
RE: But, obviously, the Court sees it.
Well, since it isn’t law, any law abiding citizen can IGNORE what the 5 black robed ones did.
Any governor, mayor or elected state and county official who has sworn to uphold their laws and the constitution ought to know this.
“In Florida, I don’t know about KY, the governor can remove any elected official in any county from office for malfeasance, felony or incompetence..............”
I don’t thing the Florida governor has dictatorial powers.
Two old flannel mama bears that are way past menopause. It’s real “love”......:0)
To that point, the same government that put Davis in jail for her beliefs, made accommodations for Muslim prisoners that objected to handling pork while in the kitchen, and allows Jewish prisoners to eat kosher. That same government has built Muslim prayer rooms at our military academies, and allows Muslims and Sikhs to wear scarfs, beards or turbans while in uniform.
We are in the midst of an undoing that is like no other in our history. My personal belief is that it will take a second revolution at some point to undo the undoing.
You are right, and the scary part is that the majority of the current crop of candidates see this as an isolated incident, not the increasing trend of judicial dictatorship. The whole trend needs to be stopped, or it won’t matter who is president, the liberals will continue to rule through the courts. The only other alternative is revolution.
NPR forgot:
Article 6 of the US Constitution: NO RELIGIOUS TEST SHALL BE REQUIRED FOR PUBLIC OFFICE.
First amendment states that congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion NOR PROHIBITING THE FREE EXERCISE THEREOF.
Correct.
Judges don’t legislate and have no legislative power.
Of course, that hasn’t stopped them from grabbing power for themselves previously.
Impeach and remove the judge.
How many sex partners have the loving gay couple had? The usual (500) or the more untraditional: 1,000.
Defund NPR.
(Republicans voted last month to keep NPR/PBS funding at current levels)
I find this to be more outrageous than the clerk refusing to give licenses to gays. Holy merde. And they wonder why we hate the GOPe.
Liberals disgust me. Those who question her on having been divorced must know that (1) the divorces were before her religious conversion, and (2) having made a mistake in the past is not evidence of hypocrisy, just of imperfection. Liberals lie and attack out of malice, just because they are vicious thugs. The judge in this case is a case study in liberal brutality and evil.
To that point, the same government that put Davis in jail for her beliefs, made accommodations for Muslim prisoners that objected to handling pork while in the kitchen, and allows Jewish prisoners to eat kosher. That same government has built Muslim prayer rooms at our military academies, and allows Muslims and Sikhs to wear scarfs, beards or turbans while in uniform.
This is the best post I’ve read about this subject.
Here is proof of hypocrisy. This is something to fight. I haven’t been much roused by this incident except that I thought jailing the clerk was a bit much. But this angle is true and upsetting.
Why is this County Clerk the center of attention? This past summer when the Court ruled on this issue there were many county clerks who were flummoxed by this and waited for their respective Attorney Generals to issue an opinion on how to proceed.
Here in Arkansas where I live that was the case in several counties. Once the AG issued the opinion that they had to comply that was it. There was a County Clerk in one county, that like this woman in Kentucky, continued to refuse to comply. She, though, resigned and made her reasons known.
Now what we have here is the last know holdout that, for reasons known only to her, she refuses to comply after all the opinions have been issued. Now is she wants to be a Martyr for the cause, that is fine, but at this time she has made he point and either she can comply or she can resign for the reasons she states. Staying in jail will not change anything now.
The states themselves can solve this quandary by getting out of the marriage license business. Alabama has proposed this and replacing it with something else that covers the legal ramifications.
Frankly I care not anything about Social Issues, we have more pressing problems that of they are not solved then any social issues will not matter in any event.
Well nice to know that this family has some good pension benefits. That might explain this woman’s stance. She probably is well vested in the public pension plan so if she finally resigns after the playing the martyr she will won’t suffer financially.
I doubt it. She will not voluntarily stay in jail for years playing the Martyr routine. It won’t take long and she will resign and take her pension and go home.
RE: Her marriage record has been used by critics to point out what they see as Davis’ hypocrisy.
Liberals do not understand the Gospel and being born again in the spirit.
Those previous marriages came BEFORE she accepted Christ as her Savior and Lord.
RE: It won’t take long and she will resign and take her pension and go home.
Why should she resign?
1) Did Kentucky legalize gay marriage?
2) She is not an employee, she is an ELECTED OFFICIAL. If the residents of her county don’t want her in office, they should call for her impeachment or recall her in an election.
We had the same thing here in Arkansas and a county clerk finally resigned.
So her options are, stay in jail, comply, be impeached, or resign.
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