Kim Davis is back in headlines and its not good news for her.
According to the Hill, a federal appeals court has ruled that Kim Davis can be sued for damages after refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses in 2015.
Reuters reports that the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati made the decision in a 3-0 ruling this past Friday. They decided that two couples, made up of David Ermold with David Moore and Will Smith with James Yates, could not sue Davis as a county clerk. But, the couples can sue Davis as an individual.
Circuit Judge Richard Griffin wrote his opinion for the decision announcement. He wrote that Davis citing religious objections while denying marriage licenses was wrong.
He wrote, “In short, plaintiffs pleaded a violation of their right to marry: a right the Supreme Court clearly established in Obergefell.”
“The district court therefore correctly denied qualified immunity to Davis,” he added.
Because of Davis’s act, politicians in Kentucky later changed the law to make it so marriage licenses can be issued without clerks having to sign their names on documents.
But that’s not all the State of Kentucky had to do because of Davis’s religious convictions. The appeals court also ruled that the state has to pay the $225,000 legal bills of the two gay couples (and the two straight couples who aided in the 2015 Supreme Court case). Originally, this decision was made by US District Judge David Bunning in 2017. The Appeals court then chose to uphold the decision after it was challenged.
The ACLU told USA Today in a statement: “By affirming the sizeable fee award, the Court also sent a strong message to other government officials in Kentucky that it is not only unconstitutional to use public office to impose one’s personal religious views on others, but that it also can be a very expensive mistake.”
