Kentucky judge says Kim Davis violated same-sex couples' rights


Kim Davis (C), the Kentucky clerk who defied a federal court order on same-sex marriage, is shown in the center of the back row. File Photo by Pat Benic/UPI | License Photo

March 19 (UPI) -- A Kentucky federal judge has ruled that Kim Davis violated two same-sex couples' constitutional rights when she served as a Rowan County clerk years ago.

Davis violated their rights by failing to abide by the law shortly after the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court ruling granted same-sex couples the right to marry across the country, U.S. District Judge David L. Bunning of the Eastern District of Kentucky ruled on Friday.

The plaintiffs included David Ermold and David Moore, and James Yates and Will Smith, according to the 22-page ruling.

At the time, Davis stopped issuing marriage licenses to legally eligible couples, claiming qualified immunity based on her religious beliefs. A judge had ordered her to issue the licenses, but she ended up spending five days in jail since she was found in contempt of court for refusing to issue the licenses.

The judge ruled that such immunity would have applied to a mistake, but Davis "knowingly violated the law."

"Ultimately, Davis 'chose to stand for what [she] believe[s] in over what was contrary to that,'--the law," Bunning wrote in the ruling.

The plaintiffs were issued marriages licenses while Davis was in jail for contempt of court, but said they have suffered damages from her denying them the right to marry on multiple occasions beforehand, the court document shows.

"[E]very time I think of my marriage, I have to think about Kim Davis, and the experience, how we were humiliated and treated like less than human beings," the court documented cited plaintiff Ermold saying.

Plaintiffs alleged damages are a question of fact to be determined by a jury, according to the court document, and the judge denied Davis' request for summary judgment on the issue.

This means the case will still go to trial for a jury to decide on damages and a date will likely be set after a status conference on April 1.

Michael Gartland, an attorney for plaintiffs, told WKYT that "the plaintiffs could not be more happy."

"As the court notes in the decision, this case has been pending since 2015," he said. "They couldn't be more happy that they're finally going to get their day in court and they're confident justice will be served."

Liberty Counsel, which represents Davis, said in a statement it will continue to argue that she is not liable for damages.

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"Kim Davis is entitled to protection to an accommodation based on her sincere religious belief," Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said in the statement. "This case raises serious First Amendment free exercise of religion claims and has a higher potential of reaching the Supreme Court."

Davis, a Republican, lost her bid for re-election to county clerk in 2018 to Democrat Elwood Caudill, Jr., who is now the county clerk.