David Ermold and David Moore Got What They Wanted 

So why are they still trying to ruin Kim Davis 10 years later?  

David Ermold and David Moore received their “marriage” license in September 2015. But Kim Davis’ name had been scratched out. 

But that wasn’t good enough for Ermold and Moore. They SUED to try to force Kim to put HER name on THEIR certificate. When that didn't work, they decided to sue Kim into bankruptcy for refusing to give up her lawful, state, federal, and constitutionally guaranteed religious freedom rights.  

We’ve now brought this case to the U.S. Supreme Court, and it may just overturn the wrongfully decided Obergefell mess that created this problem.   

If we do not win this case, then ANY Christian can be sued into bankruptcy for refusing to endorse or participate in actions forbidden by their religious beliefs.

Even before the Obergefell opinion was announced on June 26, 2015, Kim Davis had been working through the Kentucky County Clerks Association to ensure religious freedom protections for clerks. Many had religious beliefs preventing them from affixing their names as the official authorizing agent endorsing a same-sex “marriage.”

Kim had a simple request — remove her name from the certificates. Kim doesn’t hate anyone. She had two lifelong friends in a lesbian relationship. She didn’t agree with them, but they remained friends.

Kim was solely seeking to protect the religious freedom rights of every Kentucky official whose faith prevented them from endorsing and participating in something their religion forbids.

Unfortunately, the KY legislature failed to act before Obergefell was decided. So, the first thing on the first business day after the Obergefell opinion, Kim formally requested religious accommodation to remove her name or have another clerk issue the certificates.

As she waited for state officials to act, Kim stopped issuing ANY marriage licenses, including those between one man and one woman. Kim was simply following the state law with a nondiscriminatory protocol while waiting for state officials to do their jobs. 

Kim wasn’t the only Kentucky clerk who stopped issuing marriage licenses. The clerks in Casey and Whitley Counties also stopped issuing marriage licenses, requesting religious accommodation until the Kentucky legislature acted.

At the same time, county clerks in other states, including Alabama and Texas, ALSO stopped issuing licenses until their state legislatures changed their laws. 

That’s exactly how the process is supposed to work, by the way. The U.S. Supreme Court cannot change existing state laws. ONLY state legislatures have that power. The clerks across the nation who refused to issue same-sex “marriage” licenses in the wake of the Obergefell ruling were simply following long-established law. To do otherwise could have resulted in criminal charges for many of these clerks.

But “five lawyers,” as Chief Justice John Roberts referred to his fellow colleagues, decided to shred legal precedent and the Constitution to impose their personal opinions on every state in the nation. 

“Under the Constitution, judges have power to say what the law is, not what it should be,” Chief Justice Roberts wrote in his 2015 Obergefell dissent.

Since that wrongful Obergefell opinion, Christians from coast to coast have been harassed, maligned, and sued by LGBTQ advocates as punishment for their religious beliefs. Kim Davis was their first victim — but she won’t be the last as long as Obergefell is still standing.

Kim was simply being obedient to God. Her request to remove her name from the license was an easy accommodation — one she got as early as September 2015, then again by executive order in December 2015, and finally by a bill unanimously passed in April 2016.

David Ermold and David Moore’s decade-long vindictive campaign has sought to personally punish Kim for refusing to violate her faith.

David Ermold and David Moore are personally offended by Kim Davis’ determination to use her First Amendment right to religious freedom. But “hurt feelings” over Kim’s religious beliefs do not entitle Ermold and Moore to financially bankrupt Kim Davis or any other Christian.

Don’t let the LGBTQ destroy Christians’ religious freedom rights!

And to be VERY clear, if Obergefell is overturned, David Moore and David Ermold WILL NOT lose their license. That’s because the 2022 Respect for Marriage Act (RFMA) requires all states to honor existing marriage licenses from all other states. But going forward, the matter will return to the states as it had been up to June 26, 2015. Five lawyers on the Supreme Court have no business redefining marriage. 

We cannot allow two vindictive men to rob Christians of their constitutional RIGHT to religious freedom. We cannot allow five lawyers to FORCE religious people to violate their faith or to shred the Constitution. That is why we MUST defend Kim Davis AND overturn Obergefell.

We need your financial help to protect the religious freedom rights of every American. Every donation made to our legal fund today will be DOUBLED in impact. As a special bonus, every donation over 50 dollars will receive a hard copy of Kim’s biography, Under God’s Authority.

Please help us defend religious freedom today. 

Please also pray for Kim, her family, and our staff. We are all receiving death threats daily.

Mat Staver
Founder and Chairman
Liberty Counsel