Kim Davis’s Deputies Reportedly Say They Want To Issue Marriage Licenses But Are Too Afraid Of Davis

[Hepburn]

In an interview with the Kentucky Trial Court Review, Rowan County Attorney Cecil Watkins expressed exasperation with Kim Davis, the anti-gay clerk who has refused to issue marriage licenses due to her objections to marriage equality. Davis, Watkins said, “does not represent” the county or its values, and he added that he told Davis that he “will not and cannot support” her in her refusal to obey the Constitution.

Perhaps most significantly, Watkins also says that he learned that Davis’s deputy clerks would issue marriage licenses to all couples legally entitled to one, but that they are too afraid of Davis to do so. If Judge David Bunning, the federal judge who is expected to hold Davis in contempt after a hearing Thursday morning, orders Davis’s deputies to issue marriage licenses, Watkins says, the deputies will comply.

Davis’s refusal to comply with the Constitution has potentially placed her deputies in legal jeopardy. In an order announcing the contempt hearing, Judge Bunning said that Davis “and each of her deputy clerks shall be present at the hearing.” The deputies’ willingness to issue licenses if Davis is no longer an obstacle, however, may save them from sanctions since the primary purpose of the contempt hearing is to pressure Davis’s office to comply with the law.

In an editorial note accompanying its reporting, the Trial Court Review paints a grim picture of life in the Rowan County courthouse after Davis began a symbol of anti-gay defiance. “The takeaways from the Watkins interview are clear. Davis is acting alone in her zealous mission. Her conduct has terrorized not just her staff but everyone that works in the courthouse. And all for a foolish mission aided by out of state charlatan lawyers trying to raise money for their ‘religious liberty’ mission.”

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/09/03/3698353/kim-daviss-deputies-reportedly-say-they-want-to-issue-marriage-licenses-but-are-too-afraid-of-davis/

Wow...what a wicked witch Davis is!

[davepc]

1. Cowards.

[Hepburn]

3. Yeah, but...

...I can see why someone with a family to support and he/she has the only income...there's a reason to not butt heads with Davis. If she has no problem telling a Feddie judge to head in, imagine what she would and could do to some poor underling.

[cwydro]

4. That's a wee bit harsh.

Jobs aren't easy to come by these days.

[stevenleser]

19. Davis is protected by the fact she is an elected official. She can fire these other folks. nt

[Hepburn]

2. Guess what?

I just learned in another new article that Davis names appears on the licenses since she is the County Clerk...so in her "absence" the licenses that the deputy clerks are issuing? They will have DAVIS' NAME on them!

Oh, how sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!

[still_one]

5. It is way past due to impeach Davis from her job for violating the Constitution

[Hepburn]

6. I agree

Why the hell should be getting paid for not doing her job AND defying a court order. Let her RW pals support her.

[hifiguy]

7. So throw her bigoted, hateful ass in the cooler

for a while, which has apparently been done, and the deputy clerks can issue licences to all qualifying couples, straight and gay, with Judge Bunning's clear and unequivocal approval. Win-win.

[beac]

8. One of her deputies is her son*.

Wonder if he will agree to issue licenses or join Mommy Dearest in jail?


(*no law in KY against hiring family members to work under you. She was her own mother's deputy before she was elected to her current job.)

[Hepburn]

10. IMO, since he is an employee and not an elected official...

...I say he will comply with the court order because:

1. Since he is not elected, he can be fired; and

2. The feddie judge, I believe, stated to the deputy clerks in the audience they would be jailed if they violated the order.

Son may not be fruitcake RR like his mother...hopefully the crazy genes were not passed on to him.

[beac]

16. Alas, he's as bigoted as she is:

Bluegrass Politics ‏@BGPolitics · 1m1 minute ago
Faced w/ contempt & jail, 5 of Kim Davis' 6 deputy clerks tell judge they would be OK issuing marriage licenses to all. Her son says no.

https://twitter.com/BGPolitics

[LostOne4Ever]

12. Are you talking about this guy?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/this-kentucky-clerk-vows-to-die-for-the-right-to-oppose-gay-marriage_55de1264e4b0a40aa3ad3a78

[font style="font-family:'Georgia','Baskerville Old Face','Helvetica',fantasy;" size=4 color=teal]Son or not, he is a colossal bigot and asshole and deserves to be fired.[/font]

[beac]

13. Nope. Oddly, that is a bigt clerk with the same last name in a different county.

Alas, no one has sued him yet, so he's been getting away with not issuing licenses. He's also in a different federal jurisdiction.

And there's a third bigot clerk in yet a third county: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/sep/03/kentucky-clerks-refusing-marriage-licenses


(Will try to find the article that mentions Davis 2.0 being in a different fed jurisdiction and update with it.)

[LostOne4Ever]

14. I see, from the article I read I thought that guy worked under her. Thanks for the info (nt)

[Rex]

9. Well now she is in jail, hopefully to rot away for a long time.

So they can go back to following the law, without worry!

[LostOne4Ever]

11. It is my understanding that 4 deputies support her, 1 is uncertain, and only 1 is willing to comply

http://www.wtrf.com/story/29930536/rowan-co-clerk-continues-to-deny-marriage-licenses

[font style="font-family:'Georgia','Baskerville Old Face','Helvetica',fantasy;" size=4 color=teal]I think credit should be given where it is due to that one deputy.

If others have come around, then credit to them for evolving.[/font]

[yuiyoshida]

15. Sarah Palin would call her a "mama Grizzly"

moose likely...

[annabanana]

17. Well, she IS a scary mofo. . . n/t

[jalan48]

18. Too afraid? Is she Superwoman?

[Ghost in the Machine]

20. Sort of... she has (had) the power to FIRE employees who defied her. Jobs are almost *sacred*

right now, and I can see the reason ANYBODY wouldn't want to lose their job, and benefits if any apply, in this point in time. Think of a family where the deputy clerk is the only one with an income, and maybe some insurance that is covering the needs of a family member.... can they *afford* to lose their income and benefits??

It's easy to sit here in our own shoes and try to judge, or question, why others do what they do. Try putting yourself in THEIR SHOES and think about what you would do then. It makes things a little different.

Back when I was working, before becoming disabled due to an on the job accident, I never worried about a job. I could do ANYTHING construction related and would quit a job in a heartbeat if a boss just pissed me off a little bit, and I would have 2, 3 or sometimes 4 different jobs to choose from to show up at the next morning because I would stop by construction sites on the way home to see if anyone was hiring. Now?? Now I have to worry all the time whether the wingnuts will get their way, cut off SSDI & Medicare, and I lose my only income, healthcare and everything I've got.

Peace,

Ghost