Kim Davis, a clerk in Rowan County, Kentucky, disagrees with the settled law of the land and is refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex Kentucky couples in violation of a federal court order. As an elected county officer, whose role is ministerial and not judicial, Davis’ acts of civil disobedience are in direct contravention of the laws that she has been elected to uphold. Despite her belief that it is unconstitutional and against her religious values for same-sex couples to marry, by refusing to issue marriage licenses, Davis is interpreting the law and acting on her own accord, which will cause a ripple effect and stir opponents of gay marriage everywhere to do the same.
On July 24, 2013, Montgomery County Register of Wills D. Bruce Hanes started issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in direct contravention to the Pennsylvania 1996 law that defined marriage as only between a man and a woman. By the time he was ordered to cease and desist by a Commonwealth Court, Hanes had issued 174 marriage licenses. Hanes’ actions were seemingly similar yet massively different from Davis’ actions as it relates to rule of law. When a state judge ordered Hanes to stop issuing licenses, Hanes appealed, but followed the ruling. He worked within the legal system in an effort to change it; Davis on the other hand refused to follow U.S. District Judge David Bunning of the Eastern District of Kentucky’s order and was jailed as a result.
