In 2015, this soft-spoken, born-again Christian woman was sued, and even imprisoned six days for exercising her legal right to religious accommodation. Now she’s being sued into bankruptcy.

Does one still have religious freedom if one can be sued civilly for exercising that freedom? Liberty Counsel is asking the Court of Appeals — and thereafter the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on the side of freedom.

David Ermold and his partner, David Moore, could have obtained a license at any one of the nearby Clerk’s offices that were offering them in wake of the Obergefell. Kim was waiting for a response from the Democrat Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear about her religious accommodation. As such, she had stopped issuing ALL marriage licenses — until she received word on her request, which the governor denied.

The new Republican governor, Matt Bevins, then granted her accommodation request in December 2015, and the Kentucky legislature unanimously passed a law in April 2016, affirming that all Kentucky clerks and officials were, in fact, entitled to religious accommodation.

But in the meantime, Ermold and Moore kept traveling to Kim’s office to film themselves mocking and harassing Kim and her staff. The two Davids loaded the videos to social media hoping to achieve internet “fame” for themselves. The men’s antics even landed them a spread in GQ magazine, where they admitted they had never even thought of getting married before they heard about Kim Davis. They just wanted to publicly humiliate Kim and her faith.

When the internet notoriety died down, Ermold and Moore sued Kim for “emotional distress.”

Now, the same judge who threw Kim in jail has ordered Kim to pay 360,000 dollars to compensate for the “hurt feelings” of the two men who spent months in 2015 filming themselves humiliating Kim!

Help Kim Davis & restore religious liberty!

The fact of the matter is Kim Davis was entitled to an accommodation of her sincerely held religious beliefs, and the 2015 case of Obergefell. v. Hodges should also be overruled.

In Liberty Counsel’s brief to the court, we argued: “The First Amendment and Kentucky Religious Freedom Restoration Act entitled Davis to an accommodation, which she was not given, and shield her from the liability imposed by the district court…The Court is well within its rights to correct preceding error and provide the constitutional protection that was due Davis in this matter.”

Our pleading also reminded the court that the Obergefell decision itself acknowledged that people with religious convictions who do not condone the new marriage narrative are to be given proper protection.

Davis was sued, imprisoned, and subjected to hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages. To refuse to afford Davis the accommodation she was due under the First Amendment and allow the verdict against her for the mere exercise of her constitutionally protected right to exercise her religious values would be manifest injustice of the worst kind.

Kim Davis deserves justice in this case since she was entitled to religious accommodation from issuing marriage licenses under her name and authority.

In addition to protecting religious freedom and accommodation rights, this case has the potential to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges because that opinion has no constitutional support, and it threatens the religious freedom of many Americans who believe that marriage is a sacred institution between one man and one woman.

The First Amendment precludes making the choice between your faith and your livelihood. And Liberty Counsel is fighting to ensure YOU never have to make that decision.

Our clients, including Kim Davis, never pay for our legal work. Few could afford to defend themselves against a government gone mad. Instead, our clients rely on YOU, the faithful Liberty Counsel donor, to protect religious liberty. A generous supporter has established a generous Challenge Grant, but it only pays when you do.

Every donation made today will be DOUBLED in impact — even recurring monthly donations — which will continue to be doubled for the length of the grant. Please, give generously.

We will soon file our final brief with the Court of Appeals. Please be in prayer for a good result — not just to save Kim Davis and her family from bankruptcy, but to save religious freedom and accommodation rights for all — because a right means nothing if you can be sued for using it.

SOURCE:

“Kim Davis Marriage Case Could Be the next Supreme Court Blockbuster.” Liberty Counsel, November 1, 2024. LC.org/newsroom/details/110124-kim-davis-marriage-case-could-be-the-next-supreme-court-blockbuster-1.