Kim Davis Found In Contempt Of Court For Refusing Same-Sex Marriage Licenses; Ordered To Jail

The Rowan County Kentucky clerk who had defied a Supreme Court order to issue marriage licenses to gay couples was found in contempt of court on Thursday and was remanded to custody.

Kim Davis is in custody until she signs marriage licenses. Crowd outside erupts in applause

— Bluegrass Politics (@BGPolitics) September 3, 2015

Kim Davis, who refuses to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples because of her religious beliefs, may face jail time and/or significant fines in a contempt of court hearing scheduled for later Thursday.

According to a federal prosecutor, Davis and the county must comply with the law.

“Government officials are free to disagree with the law, but not disobey it,” U.S. Attorney Kerry B. Harvey said in a statement. “The County Clerk has presented her position through the federal court system, all of the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. It is time for the Clerk and the County to follow the law.”

That’s the position U.S. District Judge David Bunning had taken in Davis’ case Thursday.

Judge Bunning told Kim Davis he has his own religious beliefs as Catholic, but public officials must respect the law. ^JC

— Bluegrass Politics (@BGPolitics) September 3, 2015

Davis, a born-again Apostolic Christian who has been divorced three times, has been under intense scrutiny to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples since the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states in June. Davis has sited “God’s authority” in her refusal to issue the licenses, ostensibly unaware, or uninterested, in Article Six of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and the separation of church and state.

Outside the courthouse, hundreds gathered in protest, most of them in support of Davis, with one sign reading, “We must obey God rather than human beings!”

Another woman in defense of gay marriage had a sign that read, “Respect the law; do your job!”