Kim Davis Ordered to Pay $225,000 for Discriminating Against Gay Couples
Former clerk Kim Davis of Rowan County, KY, is being ordered to pay a hefty price for discriminating against same-sex couples.
Davis, who first made headlines in 2015 after she refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples in her county, was initially told last July that the state of Kentucky would cover the legal fees of the couples who sued her for anti-gay discrimination.
She infamously claimed providing marriage licenses to same-sex couples violated her religious beliefs as a Christian, though the argument didn't hold up in court since marriage equality was already legal nationwide. The case was eventually dismissed, and later, Kentucky lawmakers passed a law removing the names of county clerks from state marriage licenses.
In total, the legal fees amounted to nearly $225,000—and although Davis (pictured above) is attempting to push back against the decision, lawyers for Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin now insist taxpayers "should not have to collectively bear the financial responsibility for Davis’ intransigence."
Gov. Bevin, a Republican, has personally praised Davis's commitment to her religious beliefs, reports the Lexington Herald-Ledger. But his admiration of Davis's faith hasn't extended to the court, where his legal team blamed her for failing to do her job as a clerk—and maintains that since she acted alone, she must pay the legal fees, not the state.
"Only Davis refused to comply with the law as was her obligation and as required by the oath of office she took," Gov. Bevin wrote in a legal brief, reports the Associated Press.
According to the Herald-Ledger, a panel of three judges will hear the case at the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, OH, this Thursday, January 31, to determine once and for all who will cough up hundreds of thousands of dollars.
If Davis's favor in the eyes of Kentuckians is any indication, she's fighting another pointless battle: Davis lost her bid for re-election during last year's midterm elections in November.
Oh, did we mention she was unseated by a Democrat?
