Kim Davis, a government clerk in Kentucky, acquired fame among conservatives for refusing to issue a marriage certificate to a gay couple. Four-times-married Davis objects to gay marriage on religious grounds, but would not vacate the job that obliged her to administer the paperwork for them. Years later, the "find out" stage is at hand: a $100,000 court-ordered award for the couple.
A jury in Ashland, Kentucky, awarded David Ermold and David Moore each $50,000 after deliberating on Wednesday, according to lawyers for Davis … Bunning ruled last year that Davis violated the constitutional rights of the two couples. In the ruling, Bunning reasoned that Davis "cannot use her own constitutional rights as a shield to violate the constitutional rights of others while performing her duties as an elected official." The trials held this week were held to decide damages against Davis. The former clerk had argued that a legal doctrine called qualified immunity protected her from being sued for damages by the couples.
The solution to Davis's dilemma was, from the outset, to take the day off. She's in this pickle because she unconstitutionally imposed her religious beliefs on government business. That said, right-wingers see the case as an opportunity for the current U.S. Supreme Court to find some wedge to get more God into government: Davis's lawyer sees getting it in front of them as the whole point of the case.
