Miller v. Davis

Miller v. Davis is an ongoing federal lawsuit in the United States regarding the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples. After the Supreme Court of the United States legalized same-sex marriage nationwide on June 26, 2015, the county clerk of Rowan County, Kentucky, Kim Davis, has since refused to issue marriage licenses to any couple, same or opposite-sex, citing her religious beliefs. She also refuses to allow her deputies to issue the licenses, as they would still bear her title and name. On August 12, 2015, U.S. District Judge David Bunning ordered Davis to issue marriage licenses to all couples. He stayed his ruling until August 31, at her request, while she sought further stays. The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit denied her request for a stay pending appeal on August 26. On August 31, the Supreme Court unanimously refused to issue a stay, ending her legal options.

Background and District Court

On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that a state may not refuse to license or recognize marriages between same-sex couples. Kentucky had previously banned same-sex marriage by constitutional amendment, thus same-sex couples rushed to get married as soon as the decision was handed down. The county clerk of Rowan County, Kim Davis, has refused to issue marriage licenses to any couple, same-sex or opposite-sex, since the decision.

On July 1, 2015, two same-sex couples and two opposite-sex couples filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky against Kim Davis. The case was assigned to Judge David Bunning. Hearings for a preliminary injunction ordering Kim Davis to issue marriage licenses to all couples were held on July 13, and July 20. The plaintiffs contend that Obergefell mandates marriage licenses be issued to all couples across the nation, including in Rowan County. Davis contends that the First Amendment protects her from having to do so, as her religious beliefs forbid her to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, and thus she stopped issuing them to any couple.

On August 12, 2015, Judge Bunning issued a preliminary injunction ordering Kim Davis to issue marriage licenses to any qualified couple. He wrote that Kim Davis would suffer no irreparable harm by having her signature on a marriage license issued to a same-sex couple. On August 17, he refused to stay the ruling pending appeal, but granted a temporary stay until August 31. Davis had refused to issue any marriage licenses in the interim.

Appeals

Davis immediately appealed the ruling to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. On August 17, after the district court refused to stay its ruling pending appeal, Davis asked the Sixth Circuit for a stay pending appeal. On August 26, a unanimous three-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit consisting of Judges Damon J. Keith, John M. Rogers and Bernice B. Donald denied the stay pending appeal. The panel wrote she was unlikely to succeed on appeal on the merits of her case. Davis then turned to the Supreme Court for a stay.

On August 31, 2015, the day the temporary two-week stay issued on August 17 expired, after the clerk's office had closed, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously denied to stay the district court's ruling in an unsigned order. This was the last legal route Davis could seek to maintain her policy of not issuing any marriage licenses.

On September 1, 2015, the plaintiffs along with other couples tried to get marriage licenses, only to be refused once more. Davis cited "God's authority" for her refusal, even though she was in direct defiance of the court's order. The plaintiffs immediately filed a motion to hold Davis in contempt of court. Hours later, Judge Bunning ordered Davis and her staff into court for a contempt hearing on September 3 in Ashland, Kentucky. At that hearing, the judge ordered Davis jailed for contempt of court until she complies with the order. She could appeal Judge Bunning's contempt order to a higher court.

Contempt of Court

On September 3, Judge Bunning remanded Davis into custody for her failure to comply with his earlier order that she issue marriage licenses. “The court cannot condone the willful disobedience of its lawfully issued order,” Judge Bunning said. “If you give people the opportunity to choose which orders they follow, that’s what potentially causes problems.”

Davis' six deputy clerks were also ordered to the hearing. Five out of six of them agreed to issue licenses after Davis' imprisonment. Nathan Davis, Kim Davis' son, refused, though the judge did not impose any penalties on him.