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Kim Davis

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Kim Davis
Clerk of Rowan County, Kentucky
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 1, 2015
Preceded byJean W. Bailey
Personal details
Born (1965-09-17) September 17, 1965 (age 58)
Morehead, Kentucky, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Dwain Allen Wallace (1984-1994)[1]
Joe Davis (1996-2004, 2009-present)
Thomas Dale McnIntyre Jr. (2007-2008)
Residence(s)Morehead, Kentucky

Kimberly Jean Bailey Davis (born September 17, 1965) is a Rowan County, Kentucky, clerk who, stating she was acting "under God’s authority",[2] defied a U.S. Federal Court ruling requiring that she issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples following the Obergefell v. Hodges U.S. Supreme Court case that legalized same-sex marriage in the United States.[2][3][4][5] Davis filed an emergency application with the Supreme Court seeking to put the lower court's order on hold while she seeks an appeal. The Supreme Court denied the application.[6] On September 3, 2015, Davis was jailed for contempt of court.[7][8]

Career

Davis spent twenty-seven years as deputy clerk of Rowan County, Kentucky, under long-time incumbent Jean Bailey, her mother. In 2014, Bailey chose not to run for re-election, and Davis ran for the clerk office as a Democrat. She defeated Republican John Cox in the November 2014 election, becoming the Rowan county clerk.[9][10] As county clerk, she receives an annual salary of $80,000.[5][11]

On June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court made a landmark ruling in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. ___ (2015), in which the Court held in a 5–4 decision that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.[12][13]

Following the ruling, eighteen counties, all in Alabama, Kentucky, and Texas, continued not to issue licenses to same-sex couples. Eleven in Alabama, as well as Rowan County, Kentucky decided to stop issuing marriage licenses altogether rather than issue them to same-sex couples.[14][15] In August 2015, Davis refused to follow a court order requiring her to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. She refused on grounds of religious freedom, stating that she was acting "under God’s authority".[2] The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky and The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that she must issue marriage licenses. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the matter, ordering Davis to follow the lower court's ruling. She again refused.

Davis was ordered to appear with her six deputy clerks before a U.S. district court judge on September 3 in Ashland.[16] The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has asked the court to impose a fine on Davis rather than incarcerate her.[17] Following the court appearance, Davis was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals and will be jailed for contempt of court. She will remain incarcerated until she complies with the court's order to issue marriage licenses.[7][8]

Personal life

Davis describes herself as an Apostolic Christian[4][18] and attends church services three times a week.[19] She experienced a "religious awakening" in 2011, following her mother-in-law's (Vondal Lee Bailey Davis)[20] "dying wish" that she attend church.[18] Davis has held Bible study for inmates of the Rowan County jail.[18]

Davis has been married four times, with three different husbands (her second and fourth husbands are the same man). The first three marriages ended in divorces in 1994, 2006, and 2008. She is the mother of twins, who were born five months after her divorce from her first husband in 1994. Her third husband is the biological father of her twins, who were adopted by her current husband,[21] Joe.

Joe supports her stance against same-sex marriage and describes himself as "an old redneck hillbilly".[22] Davis' "turbulent marital history"[22] has raised "questions of hypocrisy and selective application of the Bible to her life."[21]

Election history

Rowan County, Kentucky County Clerk General, 2014[23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Kim Davis 3,909 53.2%
Republican John C. Cox 3,444 46.8%
Rowan County, Kentucky County Clerk Primaries, 2014[24]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Kim Davis 1,817 46.2%
Democratic Elwood Caudill, Jr. 1,794 45.6%
Democratic Charlotte Combess 322 8.2%

References

  1. ^ Mack, David (September 1, 2015). "Meet Kim Davis, the Woman Denying Same-Sex Couples Marriage Licenses In Kentucky". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c Blinder, Alan; Perez-Pena, Richard (September 1, 2015). "Kentucky Clerk Denies Same-Sex Marriage Licenses, Defying Court". The New York Times. Retrieved September 1, 2015. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |last-author-amp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ Bobic, Igor (September 1, 2015). "Kentucky Clerk Refuses to Issue Marriage License to Gay Couples in Heated Exchange". The Huffington Post. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  4. ^ a b Higdon, Jim; Larimer, Sarah; Somashekhar, Sandhya (September 1, 2015). "Kentucky Clerk Ordered to Court After Refusing to Issue Gay-Marriage Licenses". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 1, 2015. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |last-author-amp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ a b Wynn, Mike; Wolfson, Andrew (September 1, 2015). "Gay Couples Ask judge to Hold Clerk in Contempt". USA Today. Retrieved September 1, 2015. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |last-author-amp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ de Vogue, Ariane; Diamond, Jeremy (September 1, 2015). "ACLU Wants Kentucky Clerk in Contempt of Court over Denying Gay Marriage Licenses". CNN. Retrieved September 1, 2015. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |last-author-amp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ a b Graham, Alexandria (September 3, 2015). "Court adjourned: Kim Davis jailed for contempt of court". ABC News. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  8. ^ a b Ortiz, Erik (September 3, 2015). "Kim Davis, Kentucky Clerk Blocking Gay Marriages, Held in Contempt". NBC News. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  9. ^ Menville, Shayla (October 17, 2014). "County Clerk's Race More Contested than Usual". The Morehead News. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  10. ^ "Kentucky Clerk Won't Give Gay Couple Marriage License, Defying Order". Fox News. Associated Press. August 13, 2015. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  11. ^ "Clerk in Ky. marriage fight has turbulent marital history". CBS News. September 2, 2015. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  12. ^ Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 US ___, *22 (June 26, 2015) ("The Court now holds that same-sex couples may exercise the fundamental right to marry.").
  13. ^ Denniston, Lyle (June 26, 2015). "Opinion Analysis: Marriage Now Open to Same-Sex Couples". SCOTUSblog. Retrieved July 2, 2015.
  14. ^ Chamberland, Michele (August 22, 2015). "Thousands Rally for Clerks Denying Gay Marriage Licenses". Lexington, KY: WKYT-TV. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  15. ^ "Local Government Responses to Obergefell v. Hodges". Ballotpedia. August 21, 2015. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  16. ^ "Defiant Kentucky county clerk to learn fate soon". CBS News. September 3, 2015. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  17. ^ Oh, Inae (September 3, 2015). "Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis Headed to Court Over Refusal to Issue Gay Marriage Licenses". Mother Jones. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  18. ^ a b c Blinder, Alan; Fausset, Richard (September 1, 2015). "Kim Davis, a Local Fixture, and Now a National Symbol". The New York Times. Retrieved September 2, 2015. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |last-author-amp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ Blackford, Linda B. (July 20, 2015). "Rowan Clerk Testifies She 'Prayed and Fasted' Over Decision to Deny Marriage Licenses". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  20. ^ "Vondal 'Vonda' Davis". The Journal-Times. Grayson, KY. January 26, 2011. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
  21. ^ a b Nelson, Steven (September 1, 2015). "Kentucky Clerk Fighting Gay Marriage Has Wed Four Times". US News & World Report. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
  22. ^ a b Galofaro, Claire (September 2, 2015). "Kentucky Clerk in Gay Marriage Fight Says to Her, It's 'a Heaven or Hell Decision'". US News and World Report. Associated Press.
  23. ^ "2014 General Election". Rowan County Clerk. November 4, 2014. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  24. ^ "Primary Election Rowan County Recapitulation Sheet May 20, 2014" (PDF). Rowan County Clerk. p. 4. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
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