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Kimberly Jean Bailey Davis (born September 17, 1965) is the county clerk of Rowan County, Kentucky. In 2015, Davis gained national media attention after defying a federal court order requiring that she issue marriage licenses following the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, starting a same-sex marriage controversy in Kentucky. In the ruling, the US Supreme Court held that the right to marriage is guaranteed to same-sex couples by the Fourteenth Amendment.

After the Supreme Court decision, Davis began refusing to issue any licenses, either to same-sex couples or to opposite-sex couples. Four couples represented by the ACLU filed a lawsuit against Davis (Miller v. Davis). The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky ordered Davis to issue licenses as required by law. Her lawyers filed an emergency application with the Supreme Court seeking to put the lower court's order on hold while she pursued an appeal, but the application was denied. Davis continued to defy the court order and to deny marriage licenses, saying she was acting "under God's authority".

Davis was subsequently jailed for contempt of court, then released five days later. When she returned to work, she stated she would not interfere with her deputies, who had begun issuing licenses according to the court order. In September 2015, Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway said that because the matter is already being handled by the federal court, the appointment of a special prosecutor to pursue charges of official misconduct against her "is not necessary at this time".

Career

Deputy clerk

From 1991 to 2015, Davis served as chief deputy clerk of Rowan County, reporting to her mother, Rowan County Clerk Jean W. Bailey.

In 2011, county residents complained about Davis' compensation: an annual wage of $51,812 and an additional $11,301 in overtime and other compensation during 2011. While deputy clerk, Davis earned more than other chief deputies in the county: Chief Deputy Sheriff Joe Cline received $38,000 annually and Deputy Judge-Executive Jerry Alderman $36,000 annually; neither position receives overtime pay. After the County Fiscal Court reviewed the compensation of clerks in the office a vote was taken with the result being a unanimous decision to cut the County Clerk's office budget for salary by one-third for 2012.

2014 election

After her mother announced she would not run for re-election in 2014, Davis filed as a Democratic candidate for county clerk. At a candidates' forum, Davis stated she felt she was best qualified for the position because of her 26 years of experience in the clerk's office.

Davis won the Democratic primary, advancing to the general election against Republican John Cox. Although Cox made complaints of nepotism during the campaign, Davis prevailed in the general election. After winning the race, Davis told 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 took the oath of office as the county clerk of Rowan County on January 5, 2015, beginning a four-year term slated to end on January 7, 2019. As clerk, Davis receives an annual salary of $80,000.

Official actions and legal proceedings

Same-sex marriage ruling

On June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the landmark case of Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. ___ (2015), holding that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Following the ruling, fifteen counties in three states continued to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The probate judges of eleven counties in Alabama were allowed to temporarily deny marriage licenses by the Alabama Supreme Court, the clerk of one Texas county chose to resign rather than issue such licenses, and the clerks of two counties in Kentucky were not issuing licenses due to paperwork delays and would not speak at a Family Foundation of Kentucky protest rally held at the State Capitol. Davis, however, spoke briefly at the rally, saying "I need your prayers ... to continue to stand firm in what we believe." Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear ordered all county clerks to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, but Davis contacted Beshear, asking for an executive order to protect clerks who have moral objections against personally issuing such marriage licenses. She began turning away gay couples from her county office who were there seeking marriage licenses, then began denying marriage licenses to all couples, gay or straight, rather than issue them to same-sex couples.

On July 1, 2015, four couples who were denied a marriage license—two same-sex couples and two opposite-sex couples—filed a lawsuit against Davis represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Kentucky. Federal district judge David L. Bunning of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, the judge assigned to the case, held hearings with Davis, who tearfully argued that issuing licenses under her name violates her beliefs, citing her religious rights under the First Amendment: "It wasn't just a spur-of-the-moment decision," she said. "It was thought out, and I sought God on it." Davis had already decided against resigning from her post, as doing so, she said, would only leave the matter to her deputies: "If I resign, I solve nothing. It helps nobody." Governor Beshear stated he would not call a special session of the General Assembly to address Davis' concerns, while other state legislators believed that such a session could accommodate Davis with possible new legislation. Davis' attorneys from the Orlando, Florida-based law firm Liberty Counsel stated that the plaintiffs were free to drive to other counties to obtain their same-sex marriage licenses, with one adding, "This case is not about these plaintiffs' desires to get married, the case is about desire to force Kim Davis to approve and authorize their marriage in violation of her constitutionally protected religious beliefs." Davis and her attorneys then sued Governor Beshear for ordering her to violate her religious beliefs instead of trying to accommodate them and argued that Beshear – not Davis – should be held accountable for any legal damages from the ACLU lawsuit.

The following month, in August, Judge Bunning issued a stay temporarily barring Davis from "applying her 'no marriage licenses' policy to future marriage license requests". Before the stay expired, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit refused to extend that ruling for an appeal. "It cannot be defensibly argued that the holder of the Rowan County Clerk's office ... may decline to act in conformity with the United States Constitution as interpreted by a dispositive holding of the United States Supreme Court," the unanimous three-judge panel wrote in their refusal. "There is thus little or no likelihood that the clerk in her official capacity will prevail on appeal," the panel further said. Liberty Counsel and Davis filed an emergency application to appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court. In a one-line order, the Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal, preventing Davis from legally continuing to deny marriage licenses to couples. In response to the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal to grant her stay request, Davis stated: "I never imagined a day like this would come, where I would be asked to violate a central teaching of Scripture and of Jesus Himself regarding marriage. To issue a marriage license which conflicts with God's definition of marriage, with my name affixed to the certificate, would violate my conscience."

Davis continued to defy Bunning's court order after the Supreme Court upheld it. When several couples sought to obtain marriage licenses, Davis turned them away, saying she was acting "under God's authority". Some in the media questioned whether Davis, having been married four times, was acting hypocritically in the "application of her beliefs".

Contempt of court

Bunning ordered Davis and her six deputy clerks to appear before him on September 3 in Ashland after the two gay couples and two opposite-sex couples sought to have her held in contempt of court. The four couples and the ACLU asked the court to fine Davis. Bunning ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and held Davis in contempt, but remanded her to custody after the hearing. The judge said she would remain in jail until she complied with the court's order to issue marriage licenses. Bunning reportedly said that fines were not an option "because outsiders would pay them for her". Of the six deputy clerks who report to Davis, only her son Nathan refused to comply with the court's order to start issuing marriage licenses. After the hearing, she was transported by the U.S. Marshals to the Carter County Detention Center in Grayson.

Through her attorneys from Liberty Counsel, Davis filed an appeal from the order holding her in contempt of court, asking that she be immediately released from jail and her name removed from marriage licenses, allowing her deputies to issue them. Separately, Davis asked Governor Beshear to free her. The governor's office said that the conflict was a "matter between her and the courts" and added that the governor had no power to release her. Rowan County Democratic Judge-Executive Walter Blevins, stated that he did not believe he would need to appoint a replacement for Davis, and that he believes "the General Assembly will pass something where marriage licenses don't have anyone's name on them. Jack Conway is saying the same thing."

Five days later on September 8, Bunning ordered Davis released from jail. The order stated:

Defendant Davis shall be released from the custody of the U.S. Marshal forthwith. Defendant Davis shall not interfere in any way, directly or indirectly, with the efforts of her deputy clerks to issue marriage licenses to all legally eligible couples. If Defendant Davis should interfere in any way with their issuance, that will be considered a violation of this Order and appropriate sanctions will be considered.

Bunning's order also stated that Davis' deputy clerks must comply with his earlier order to issue marriage licenses and to submit status reports confirming their compliance to him every fourteen days. The deputy clerks released statements pledging to continue issuing licenses after Davis' release and to ignore any order from her to do otherwise, complying with the federal judge's order. Licenses issued since Davis' refusal state that they are authorized by "the office of the Rowan County Clerk" but no longer bear her name. Davis supporters who gathered at the Rowan County Courthouse said that her deputies were unlawfully issuing licenses and should resign or be fired.

Davis returned to work a week later, on September 14, 2015, and said she would not interfere with any deputy clerk who issues marriage licenses, but she said she would not personally issue or authorize any of the forms. The same day, a same sex couple successfully walked out of the Rowan County, Kentucky, clerk's office with a marriage license. After three trips to Davis' office by deputy clerk Brian Mason, the license the couple received said "pursuant to federal court order #15-CV-44 DLB" on it and listed the city of Morehead, the county seat, rather than listing Davis' name and Rowan County. A member of the couple said: "My license is valid, and it's valid because of the court order that's in effect ... It doesn't have to have her signature."

Pending decisions and issues

Under Kentucky law, a commonwealth's attorney has the power to indict various local officials (including judges-executives, justices of the peace, sheriffs, coroners, surveyors, jailers, county attorneys and constables) for "malfeasance in office or willful neglect in the discharge of official duties" (an offense punishable by removal from office and a fine of up to $1,000), "but for some reason lost to history, the statute doesn't include county clerks." Since Davis' denial of issuing marriage licenses came into the public eye, the question has been posed as to why Davis has not been fired for failure to perform her assigned duties. As an elected official, however, Davis is not subject to being fired. In order for Davis to be removed from the office of county clerk, impeachment proceedings must be initiated by the Kentucky House of Representatives and charges for impeachment brought to the Kentucky Senate.

After being denied a license four times, one couple asked the Rowan County Attorney's Office to investigate Davis for official misconduct, a misdemeanor under Kentucky law.

Rowan County Attorney Cecil Watkins cited a conflict of interest precluding him from making a decision to charge or not to charge in the case (his office is currently defending two suits filed against the county). Because of this, Watkins referred the complaint of official misconduct to the Kentucky Attorney General's office, led by Attorney General Jack Conway, for them to decide whether to file charges against Davis.

The Kentucky Attorney General has the power to have an assistant attorney general investigate whether Davis violated the official misconduct statute when her office refused to issue a license to the same-sex couple, or to have a county attorney or commonwealth's attorney from another jurisdiction conduct such an investigation. The Kentucky Attorney General's office then conducted a review, and Conway issued a statement reading: "I understand that passions are high on both sides of this issue, but we are a nation of laws, and no one can defy an order from a federal judge."

On September 9, 2015, Conway issued a one-sentence statement saying that he would not appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Davis: "Judge Bunning and the federal court have control of this matter, and therefore a special state prosecutor is not necessary at this time." Conway has noted that the statute of limitations on charging Davis does not expire for a year.

Reactions

Many legal experts spoke out against Kim Davis. Kerry B. Harvey, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, issued a statement expressing "grave concerns about the reported failure to comply with the court's order" and stated that "government officials are free to disagree with the law, but not disobey it." Columbia Law School professor Katherine Davis said "Kim Davis has all sorts of religious liberty rights secured under the First Amendment and under other laws, but they are not at stake in this case. All she's asked to do with couples that come before her is certify that they've met the state requirements for marriage, so her religious opposition to same-sex marriage is absolutely irrelevant." Professor Steve Vladeck of American University's Washington College of Law said that Davis "waived any right to have an objection to issuing same-sex marriage licenses when she ran for the job." Professor Jonathan H. Adler of the Case Western Reserve University School of Law said, "Insofar as the state's definition of an acceptable marriage differs from her own, Davis is obligated to follow the state's rule so long as she maintains her current office." Steven R. Shapiro, legal director of the ACLU, said, "The law is clear and the courts have spoken. The duty of public officials is to enforce the law, not place themselves above it." Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin and others compared Davis' refusal to follow orders of the U.S. Supreme Court to Alabama Governor George Wallace's "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door" in 1963. The Human Rights Campaign, a national GLBT rights group, said: "Ms. Davis has the fundamental right to believe what she likes ... but as a public servant, she does not have the right to pick and choose which laws she will follow or which services she will provide."

Opposition to the federal ruling came from figures such as political columnists William McGurn of the Wall Street Journal and Ray Nothstine of the Christian Post. Law professor Eugene Volokh suggested that the Kentucky's state religious freedom restoration act might compel the state to accommodate Davis' religious beliefs and argued that state courts have the authority to order the removal of Davis' name from marriage licenses. Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers also came to Davis' defense; he stated in an amicus brief filed in federal court that the "Supreme Court ruling has completely obliterated the definition of marriage." Liberty Counsel, the law firm defending Davis, stated "Kim Davis is being treated as a criminal because she cannot violate her conscience." They also said she would not accept a proposed compromise to no longer be found in contempt if she agreed to not interfere with her deputies issuing licenses for same-sex couples.

Reactions to the litigation against Davis also came from the White House, from Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear, and from candidates in the race for the 2016 presidential election. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said "No public official is above the rule of law. Certainly not president of the United States, but neither is the Rowan county clerk." Governor Beshear said the judge's decision "speaks for itself" while his attorneys called the legal arguments in her suit against him "absurd". Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said "Officials should be held to their duty to uphold the law – end of story." Several Republican presidential candidates also called upon Davis to comply with court orders. Donald Trump said "the decision's been made, and that is the law of the land"; Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida, said Davis "is sworn to uphold the law", but also suggested that some sort of accommodation be made for her. Republican presidential candidates Carly Fiorina and Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina both suggested that Davis should comply with the court order or resign.

In contrast, several national Republican politicians supported Davis. Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, said that the Kim Davis affair was part of a "criminalization of Christianity" and organized a rally for Davis outside the jail where she had been held. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, another Republican presidential candidate, said Davis was a victim of "judicial tyranny" and attended the same rally. Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, also presidential candidates, both voiced their support for Davis. Matt Bevin, a Republican candidate for Kentucky governor in the 2015 election, said a government-issued license should not be required for any marriage.

A survey of American adults conducted by YouGov in September 2015 found that 56% supported the decision of Judge Bunning to jail Davis for contempt of court, while 31% of Americans opposed the decision. When asked what Davis should do, 65% said that Davis should resign from office; 23% said that Davis should stay in office and continue to refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples; and 4% said that Davis should remain in office but issue licenses to all persons legally entitled to one.

Meeting with Pope Francis

Davis and her husband met briefly with Pope Francis at the Apostolic Nunciature to the United States in Washington with "several dozen" other people during his U.S. visit in September 2015. According to Davis' lawyer, the pope told her to "stay strong" and gave Davis two rosaries, which she intends to give to her Catholic parents. Rosaries were also given to other people in attendance.

The Vatican press office issued a statement saying that: "The Pope did not enter into the details of the situation of Mrs. Davis and his meeting with her should not be considered a form of support of her position in all of its particular and complex aspects." According to Father Thomas Rosica, a Vatican spokesman, Davis was not invited to the Nunciature, and "the meeting may have been manipulated by her and her lawyer". The only audience given by the Pope while in Washington was with a former student of his, an openly gay Argentine named Yayo Grassi, and Grassi's same-sex partner of 19 years.

Personal life

Davis has been married four times to three different men. The first three marriages ended in divorce in 1994, 2006, and 2008. She is the mother of twins, who were born five months after her divorce from her first husband. Her third husband is the biological father of the twins, who were adopted by her second husband, Joe Davis, who is also her fourth and current husband; he supports her stance against same-sex marriage. One of Davis' twin sons, Nathan, works in her office as a deputy clerk and has taken the same position of denying marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Davis stated that she experienced a "religious awakening" in 2011, following her mother-in-law's "dying wish" that she attend church. Since then Davis has identified herself as an Apostolic Christian. She worships three times a week at the Solid Rock Apostolic Church near Morehead, an Apostolic Pentecostal congregation (also known as "Oneness Pentecostalism").

Following her conversion, Davis let her hair grow long, stopped wearing makeup and jewelry, and began wearing skirts and dresses that fall below the knee, in keeping with Apostolic/Oneness tenets regarding "external holiness".

Davis held a weekly Bible study for female inmates at a local jail.

On September 25, 2015, Davis said she switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party.

In popular culture

Davis was the subject of numerous satirical works following her burst of media attention in 2015. Books, social media profiles, and videos have been created that parody Davis' refusal to issue marriage licenses in Kentucky. A "Sit Next To Kim Davis" Twitter account was created by comedian Dave Colan mocking Davis with "hilarious tweets". As of October 2015, the account had more than 97,000 followers. Funny or Die made a mashup video featuring characters from Parks and Recreation in video clips that spoof Davis refusal to issue marriage licenses. After Davis met briefly with Pope Francis, a Funny or Die video parody was released. Author Lilith St. Augustine wrote Kim Goes To Jail: An Erotic Story, an erotic novella featuring Davis in a fictional role. La Strega Entertainment created a satirical music video sung to the tune of Major-General's Song from Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance.

Election history

References

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Notes

1. Liberty Counsel had already entered the debate over same-sex marriage by representing the eleven Alabama probate judges refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
2. Under Kentucky Revised Statute 522.020,

   A public servant is guilty of official misconduct in the first degree when, with intent to obtain or confer a benefit or to injure another person or to deprive another person of a benefit, knowingly commits an act relating to his office which constitutes an unauthorized exercise of his official functions or refrains from performing a duty imposed upon him by law or clearly inherent in the nature of his office or violates any statute or lawfully adopted rule or regulation relating to his office.

   Official misconduct in the first degree is a Class A misdemeanor and is punishable with imprisonment not to exceed 12 months and fines of $500. Official misconduct in the second degree is a Class B misdemeanor and carries a potential punishment of up to 90 days imprisonment and fines of $250.

External links

• Video documenting Kim Davis' refusal to issue a marriage license "under God's authority"
• Rowan County Clerk's Office website

• 1965 births
• Living people
• 2015 in LGBT history
• American Pentecostals
• County clerks in Kentucky
• Criticism and refusal of work
• Kentucky Republicans
• LGBT in Kentucky
• People from Morehead, Kentucky
• Opposition to same-sex marriage
• Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government
• Republican Party (United States) politicians
• Same-sex marriage in the United States
• Women in Kentucky politics