As many of you know Kim Davis, County Clerk in Rowan County Kentucky was back to work today and declared she would not interfere with her deputy clerks issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples.
But she also insisted that the marriage license forms to be altered to remove reference to her name and instead include Pursuant to Federal Court Order in its place.
This action alone could be construed as interference by Judge Bunning.
Here is the altered license.
In the original ruling where Judge Bunning found Davis in contempt of court and put her in jail and ordered the other clerks to issue the marriage licenses in her absence. Bunning admitted he was not sure about the validity of the marriage licenses under those conditions.
Nevertheless, that caveat, Bunning said, would have to be adjudicated at another time. “Whether or not a license issued by the Rowan County clerk’s office is valid or not – and I’m not saying that it is or isn’t – I’m trying to get compliance with my order,” Bunning said.
Follow below the fold for more.
Now Davis is back to work and agrees to allow her other clerks to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples but not before altering the form.
I have been stating ever since Judge Bunning made that statement in the ruling which sent Davis to jail that I am concerned about this. No couple should have to live under a cloud of uncertainty about whether the validity of their marriage will be contested at a later date!
The Governor and the State Attorney General have indicated they believe the licenses are valid.
I believe the ACLU originally thought they would be valid as well but now they are expressing concerns.
I believe the ACLU is likely concerned about the following
Per Kentucky statute KRS 402.112:
The form of marriage license prescribed in KRS 402.100 shall be uniform throughout this state, and every license blank shall contain the identical words and figures provided in the form prescribed by that section. In issuing the license the clerk shall deliver it in its entirety to the licensee. The clerk shall see to it that every blank space required to be filled by the applicants is so filled before delivering it to the licensee.
As reported by ABC and updated at 10 PM tonight:
But lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union say they "have concerns about the validity," given the alterations and said they were reviewing their legal options.
The bottom line is that there must be absolute legal certainty that these marriage licenses are valid. There can be NO gray area or room for doubt.
Until that happens this mess created by Kim Davis is not over!
Personally I believe these marriage licenses are valid as I don’t think any court would attempt to strip someone’s marriage since our right to marriage is a confirmed Civil right as ruled by the Supreme Court.
But it bears repeating: There must be absolute legal certainty before we put this issue to bed.
UPDATE: Sept. 16th. ABC reports that the ACLU is delaying legal action until Davis' pending appeals are resolved.
Though the governor and attorney general said they believe the licenses are valid, lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union who sued Davis on behalf of four couples also are concerned. They said they would wait to consider any legal action, however, until the pending appeals are resolved.
The ACLU should not wait on this. Couples should not be forced to live with this uncertainty for even a single day longer!
Come on ACLU, pursue this now!