Miller v. Davis
| Miller v. Davis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Court | United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky |
| Full case name | April Miller et al. vs. Kim Davis in her individual and official capacity as Rowan County Clerk |
| Decided | August 18, 2015 |
| Case history | |
| Prior actions | preliminary injunction issued, defendant in federal custody during appeals |
| Court membership | |
| Judges sitting | David L. Bunning, U.S.D.J. |
| Keywords | |
| Same-sex marriage in Kentucky, U.S. Amendment 1, Establishment Clause, Free Exercise Clause | |
Miller v. Davis is an ongoing federal lawsuit in the United States regarding the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples. After the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide on June 26, 2015, the county clerk of Rowan County, Kentucky, Kim Davis, refused to issue marriage licenses to any couple, same-sex or different-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 a stay pending appeal. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals denied her request for a stay pending appeal on August 26.[1] On August 31, the Supreme Court without recorded dissent refused to issue a stay. On September 3, Judge Bunning ordered Davis jailed for contempt of court until she complies with the order.[2]
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 marriage licenses to 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.[3]
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.
Appeal
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 that she had little to no chance to succeed on appeal on the merits of her case.
Davis then turned to the Supreme Court for a stay.[5]
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, with no noted dissent, denied to stay the district court's ruling in an unsigned order.[6][failed verification][7] 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.[8]
Contempt of Court
After Davis failed to comply with his order Judge Bunning ordered Davis and her staff into court for a contempt hearing on September 3 in Ashland, Kentucky.[9] At that hearing, the judge ordered Davis jailed for contempt of court until she complies with the order.[2] 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."[10] Davis was then transported to the Carter County Detention Center in Grayson.[11]
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 as long as he agreed not to interfere with other deputies issuing the licenses.[10]
Davis could appeal the court's contempt charge to the Sixth Circuit while in custody, but would likely not succeed, given that previous request of a stay was denied by both the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court. Davis could also be impeached and removed from office by the Kentucky General Assembly, but the General Assembly does not meet again until regular session which starts January 2016. Governor Steve Beshear has said on July 7th, 2015 that he "will not be calling a special session on this topic", citing the cost to taxpayers.[12] On September 3, 2015, Kim Davis was returned to the custody of U.S. marshals, to remain "until she complies with the ruling".[13]
Judge Bunning said he would revisit his decision to hold her in contempt in about a week, since by then her deputies will have issued licenses to same-sex couples in her place.[14] Deputy clerks reopened their office in Morehead and began issuing marriage licenses on September 4.[11]
Appeal
On September 6 Davis's attorneys filed for an appeal of Judge Bunning's contempt of court ruling to the Sixth Circuit.[15][16]
External Links
- District Court Ruling August 12, 2015
- Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit denial for stay August 28, 2015
References
- ^ "Kim Davis: Sixth Circuit orders anti-gay clerk to issue marriage licenses". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
- ^ a b "Kentucky clerk gets jail time for failing to issue same-sex marriage licenses". CNN. 2015-09-03. Retrieved 2015-09-04.
- ^ "Miller v. Davis Proposed Class Action" (PDF). ACLU of Kentucky. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
- ^ "Miscellaneous Order (08/31/2015) - Supreme Court" (PDF). www.supremecourt.gov. August 31, 2015. Retrieved September 6, 2015.
- ^ Wynn, Mike (26 August 2015). "Rowan gay marriage licenses upheld on appeal". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
- ^ Liptak, Adam (August 31, 2015). "Supreme Court Says Kentucky Clerk Must Let Gay Couples Marry". The New York Times. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
- ^ Chappell, Bill. "Kentucky Clerk's Request For A Stay Is Denied By U.S. Supreme Court". NPR.org. NPR. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
- ^ Blinder, Alan; Pérez-Peña, Richard (September 1, 2015). "Kentucky Clerk Denies Same-Sex Marriage Licenses, Defying Court". The New York Times. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
- ^ Blinder, Alan; Pérez-Peña, Richard (September 1, 2015). "Kentucky Clerk Denies Same-Sex Marriage Licenses, Defying Court". The New York Times. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
- ^ a b "Clerk in Kentucky Chooses Jail Over Deal on Same-Sex Marriage". 2015-09-03. Retrieved 2015-09-04.
- ^ a b WSAZ News Staff; Dan Griffin; The Associated Press; Andrew Colegrove (4 September 2015). "UPDATE: Marriage Licenses Issued in Rowan County". WSAZ-TV. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Blackford, Linda B. (July 7, 2015). "Beshear: No need to call special session on same-sex marriage issues". kentucky.com. Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved September 6, 2015.
- ^ Eliott C. McLaughlin and Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN (3 September 2015). "Kim Davis, the county clerk, to remain in Kentucky jail - CNNPolitics.com". CNN. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
{{cite web}}:|author=has generic name (help) - ^ Associated Press (4 September 2015). "With clerk jailed, gay Kentucky couple gets marriage license". MSN. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
- ^ Payne, Ed (September 6, 2015). "Kim Davis appeals contempt of court ruling over same-sex marriage licenses". CNN. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
- ^ Herskovitz, Jon (September 6, 2015). "Kim Davis legal team launches new appeal against contempt verdict on Sunday". Reuters. Retrieved 7 September 2015.