Judge Jails Christian Clerk -Same-Sex Couples Demand Fines for Kim Davis' Refusal to Violate Religious Beliefs

by Bob Unruh

A federal court judge who previously has sided with arguments for partial birth abortion and homosexual clubs in public schools on Thursday ordered a county clerk from Kentucky who refused to violate her faith and issue “same-sex marriage” licenses to go to jail.

The ruling came from Judge David Bunning, who said fines were not enough punishment for the Christian, Kim Davis.

Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, which has been representing her, said, “Everyone is stunned at this development. Kim Davis is being treated as a criminal because she cannot violate her conscience. While she may be behind bars for now, Kim Davis is a free woman. Her conscience remains unshackled.”

He continued, “Kim Davis is a woman of strong faith. She never sought to be in this position. She would rather not be in this predicament. But here she is. All she asks is to be true to God and her conscience. And the tragedy is that there are simple ways to accommodate her convictions. Just remove her name from the marriage licenses. That’s all she has asked from the beginning. Today’s events will escalate this debate to a new level. This is not the kind of America the Founders envisioned or that most Americans want.”

The judge also told deputy clerks, according to Kentucky.com, they would start issuing those licenses immediately or join Davis in jail.

Bunning, while claiming the Catholic faith, said, “Our system of justice requires citizens – and significantly, elected officials – to follows the rules of the courts.”

The judge not only refused to provide what her attorneys described as “due process” for her, and protection for her First Amendment religious rights, he also refused a request from Kentucky Senate president Robert Stivers, of Manchester, to “delay, withhold or temper his ruling … until the General Assembly has an opportunity to establish new frameworks under Kentucky law.”

While the Supreme Court’s Obergefell decision in June struck down state marriage laws, it did not create new ones upon which clerks could call for guidance when conflicts arise.

It was Bunning himself who earlier noted that the case was a fight between two constitutional rights – the enumerated First Amendment religious freedom right, and the newly created “same-sex marriage” right.

He, however, did not wait for a resolution of that dispute through the court system, and instead ordered Davis to jail, saying she would be released when she agreed to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, violating her faith.

On Wednesday, Davis, who cited “God’s authority” to defy a federal court order for her to issue “same-sex marriage” licenses, told the judge who issued the order that to follow his demands would be also to violate her constitutional due process rights as well as the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

WND reported on Tuesday when Davis declined to issue licenses to homosexual duos – after the U.S. Supreme Court, including two justices who effectively lobbied for “same-sex marriage” while the case was pending before the court by performing those ceremonies – declined to intervene.

Although the case is pending at the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the immediate fight has been over whether she must violate her faith and conscience while her case is yet unresolved.

The Associated Press lamented on Tuesday that a homosexual duo had to leave the Rowan County clerk’s office early Tuesday “red-eyed and shaking,” even though the duo could at any time obtain the desired license from more than 100 other locations in the state.

Read more at WND:

http://www.wnd.com/2015/09/judge-jails-christian-clerk/