Ten Years Later — This Could Mark the End of Obergefell 

When “five lawyers” on the U.S. Supreme Court imposed their reckless opinion upending the marriage laws that naturally held marriage to be between one man and one woman, Kim Davis was caught in the middle. 

Whatever the power of the courts, judges have no authority to write the laws, and this is especially so regarding the definition of marriage. As the clerk of Rowan County, Kentucky, Kim had no authority to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples without specific direction from the state statutes. And doing so would violate her religious beliefs.

Kim’s dilemma became the target of the LGBTQ crowd, who selected her solely to mock our Christian faith. Now Kim unjustly faces a bankrupting 360,000-dollar judgment against her personally.

This week we are filing with the U.S. Supreme Court to obtain justice as well as overturn the Obergefell opinion that created this mess.

Defend Religious Freedom & Kim Davis with your gift today, which will be DOUBLED in impact by our Challenge Grant.

On Friday, June 26, 2015, “five lawyers” on the U.S. Supreme Court released the Obergefell opinion that same-sex couples had the right to be “married.”

That very afternoon, the Democrat Kentucky governor, Steve Beshear, sent a letter to all county clerks declaring they MUST issue marriage certificates to same-sex couples.

But Gov. Beshear was effectively ordering Kentucky clerks to break clearly established Kentucky law, and KY county clerks, like Kim Davis, were paralyzed. If Kim followed the lawless governor, she could be charged with a misdemeanor. If she waited until the legislature acted, she would be sued. 

The Supreme Court does not create laws, and neither do governors. Only the legislature has the legal authority to create new laws.  

The U.S. Supreme Court can strike down statutes. But when they do, it often creates a vacuum, because there is no clearly established new law until legislators pass new laws to conform to the High Court’s rulings. 

And the State of Kentucky already had very clear laws on the books that marriage was between one man and one woman and that clerks were only authorized to issue marriage licenses in strict compliance with state law.

In fact, the Kentucky Senate president sided with Kim Davis and made clear that every action pertaining to marriage is highly regulated by the state. Therefore, any clerk that issued marriage licenses without the sanction of Kentucky law could be held liable for CRIMINAL charges. 

This put Kim Davis, and every clerk, between a rock and a hard place. 

Don’t let Christians be SUED into bankruptcy for exercising their religious freedom rights!

Beshear’s order was doubly problematic for Kim Davis, a born-again, Bible-believing Christian, who could not violate the tenets of her faith any more than she could deny the Savior who rescued her.  

After a weekend of prayer, Kim Davis charted a course that should have protected her from the criminal conundrum Beshear created.

On Monday morning, June 29, 2015, Kim Davis wrote to the Kentucky legislature requesting to exercise her constitutional religious freedom rights for religious accommodation. She wished no one ill or harm. Her faith simply prevented her from putting her name as an official seal on a document that violated God’s Word. 

Rather than removing her name from the license, as Kim wisely requested, a federal judge threw her in jail for six days, catapulting this case to international fame.

The Kentucky legislature finally stepped in and reaffirmed that ALL Kentucky state officials have the right to religious accommodation. 

But that wasn’t good enough for David Ermold and David Moore, the two men who told GQ magazine they had never even discussed “marriage” before they heard about Kim Davis on social media.

The two men could have gone to any number of nearby clerks to get a license. But that wasn’t good enough for the two Davids. They wanted KIM’s name on their license. 

The two went on a public harassment campaign to shame and humiliate Kim, traveling to her office multiple times to film Kim as they mocked her faith, sharing those videos to social media platforms to publicly humiliate the soft-spoken Christian woman. The men became “internet famous,” even landing a full-length feature article in GQ magazine celebrating their antics.

When their internet fame wore off, they decided to sue Kim for “hurt feelings,” but they were the ones who harassed her. 

And the same judge who threw Kim in jail issued a 360,000-dollar judgment against her for exercising her First Amendment rights.

When a government official acts in an official capacity, that person has “immunity” and cannot be held personally liable. 

However, the judge stripped Kim of this government shield. But even in her personal capacity, Kim (like any person) has an absolute First Amendment DEFENSE against a claim solely based on “hurt feelings.”

THIS WEEK, Liberty Counsel is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn this unjust judgement against Kim and overturn Obergefell. Please pray they take up this case in the upcoming judicial session. And DOUBLE YOUR IMPACT with our Challenge Grant.