Gov. Matt Bevin, R-Kentucky
The new governor in Kentucky has, with the stroke of his pen, resolved at least part of the Supreme Court-created conflict between the religious rights protected by the U.S. Constitution and its newly minted right to same-sex “marriage.”
He’s exempted county clerks there from the requirement that their names be on marriage licenses issued by counties.
That was the crux of the problem for Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, who spent nearly a week in jail when she refused orders from U.S. District Judge David Bunning to violate her faith and issue “same-sex marriage” licenses under her own name.
The new order from Gov. Matt Bevin states, “To ensure that the sincerely held religious beliefs of all Kentuckians are honored, Executive Order 2015-048 directs the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives to issue a revised marriage license form to the offices of all Kentucky County Clerks. The name of the County Clerk is no longer required to appear on the form.”
The legal team that worked on behalf of Davis, who eventually was released from jail and returned to her duties after Bunning ordered her deputies to issue the same-sex “marriage” licenses and threatened them with penalties, said it was a simple fix that should have been done long ago.
“This is a wonderful Christmas gift for Kim Davis,” said Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “This executive order is a clear, simple accommodation on behalf of Kim Davis and all Kentucky clerks. Kim can celebrate Christmas with her family knowing she does not have to choose between her public office and her deeply held religious convictions.”
He continued, “What former Gov. Beshear could have done but refused to do, Gov. Bevin did with this executive order. We are pleased that Gov. Bevin kept his campaign promise to accommodate the religious rights of Kim Davis. We will notify the courts of the executive order and this order proves our point that a reasonable accommodation should have been done to avoid Kim having to spend time in jail.”
The Liberty Counsel statement explained that there is no question but the case pursued by the former governor against Davis and the issue of religious freedom “played a role in [Bevin’s] lopsided win.”
“Kentuckians favor traditional values, and they are tired of the political elites represented by the previous Democratic leadership. They join with others across our nation who believe America should be a place where all people can live out their faith without fear of being put in prison,” the statement said.
The governor’s order noted that the Kentucky Constitution still states, “Only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Kentucky,” which is in conflict with the determination from “five lawyers” in Washington.
But the order also points out that the Kentucky Religious Freedom Restoration Act forbids the government to “substantially burden a person’s freedom of religion.”
The previous requirement for clerks’ names to be on the licenses “creates a substantial burden on the freedom of religion of some county clerks and employees of their offices” because they “sincerely believe that the presence of their name on the form implies their personal endorsement of, and participation in, same-sex marriage, which conflicts with their sincerely held religion beliefs.”
He noted there’s no compelling interest for such a requirement.
His outline for the new form includes lines for “first party” and “second party” and does not include the name of the clerk, as the previous form required.
Bevins, in fact, had addressed the issue before he took office, promising to quickly resolve the issue that had been used by Bunning to send Davis to jail.
Bevins, a conservative Republican who stunningly rallied from behind to defeat a powerful Democrat candidate, the state’s attorney general, had promised on his election that one of his first acts would be to formalize an accommodation for county clerks whose religious beliefs are being violated by demands they issue “same-sex marriage” licenses.
The legal challenges to Bunning’s extraordinary ruling that Davis had to violate her constitutionally protected religious faith or go to jail still are pending at the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals because of the precedent that was set.
There are numerous related cases developing around the nation – can a baker or photographer be forced to violate his or her faith by a homosexual activists? What happens to the Constitution’s protections for religious faith when a “gay” or lesbian demands a specific person of faith violate their beliefs?
But Staver said Bevin’s plan is a clear victory for religious liberty.
WND had reported that while state officials in the administration of Beshear had rejected Davis’ requests for an accommodation for her constitutionally protected religious beliefs, Bevin, as a candidate had visited her while she was jailed by Bunning.
Even then, he had proposed a solution.
When Bunning ordered Davis jailed, Bevin said in a statement campaign that such draconian actions were “utterly unnecessary.”
“There is a simple solution that would respect the rights of every Kentuckian. I first put this solution forward many weeks ago,” he said.
“Why the cowardly silence from our attorney general, Jack Conway? Jack Conway violated his oath of office as attorney general when he refused to defend our state in court. Where was our governor then demanding his resignation? The double standard applied in this case is reprehensible. Jack Conway refused to defend our state constitution, and now he is refusing to stand up for the religious liberties of our county clerks. This is unconscionable and, as governor, I will stand up for all Kentuckians, not just the ones who agree with me.”
In his original plan, Bevin said Beshear should have immediately provided an accommodation for people of faith.
“When the Supreme Court changed Kentucky’s definition of marriage, it also changed the job description of our county clerks and other officials currently involved in the state sanctioning of marriage,” he said at the time.
“It is understood that Kentucky must uphold the new law and find a way to process and recognize same-sex marriage. However, that does not mean we must do so at the expense of the constitutionally afforded religious liberties of other Kentucky citizens. It is not a matter of one or the other, but rather of both. Equal protection under the law means exactly that.”
Liberty Counsel’s filings with the appeals court contend the case is not fundamentally about same-sex “marriage” but instead about whether homosexual activists can force a Christian to violate her constitutionally protected rights.
The minority in the 5-4 Obergefell marriage decision last June that created same-sex “marriage” had warned that it would create constitutional conflicts.
LC argues that homosexual activists are intent on depriving individuals of their constitutional rights.
“In a rush to judgment that promoted expediency over due process, the district court’s original injunction [from Bunning] in this dispute tramples upon Davis’ religious rights in subjugation to plaintiffs’ ‘preference’ for a marriage license authorized by a particular person in a particular county.”
The LC brief to the appeal court said, “Under the circumstances here, plaintiff’s purported rights should not trump Davis’ undisputed sincerely held religious beliefs.”
from PropagandaGuard https://propagandaguard.wordpress.com/2015/12/23/kentucky-governor-orders-clerks-names-off-marriage-licenses/
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