The Kim Davis Saga May Last Until At Least January, If Not Longer

[mahatmakanejeeves]

The Kim Davis Saga May Last Until At Least January, If Not Longer

by Zack Ford Sep 11, 2015 8:00am

Embattled Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis will return to work on Monday, and her lawyers refuse to clarify whether she will allow her deputies to continue issuing marriage licenses as they have since last Friday. If she doesn’t, it could restart a new cycle of contempt and send her back to jail for again violating a federal court order.
....

Mat Staver, head of the Liberty Counsel, the anti-LGBT legal organization that represents Davis, has made numerous claims in the press about the validity of licenses issued by her deputies and the accommodations she could be provided. For example, in a new interview with the Heritage Foundation’s Daily Signal, Staver claims that Gov. Steve Beshear (D) could simply print new marriage license forms that “take her name and title off, which costs nothing to the commonwealth.” Every aspect of this is untrue.
....

But the legislature doesn’t actually have to change anything to accommodate Davis. Kentucky law specifically states that anything a ministerial officer can do “may be performed by his lawful deputy.” This, combined with the law’s numerous references to deputy county clerks issuing marriage licenses and filing marriage certificates, suggests that nothing actually requires Davis to interact with a marriage license.

This question similarly came up during the contempt hearing as {U.S. District Judge David Bunning} was considering requiring the deputies to issue licenses. Can deputies issue valid marriage licenses without Davis’ presence or approval? William Ellis Sharp, an ACLU attorney representing the same-sex couples who filed the complaint against Davis, explained to the court that it made little sense that she could actually prevent deputies from performing their duty. ... “We don’t think her authority extends that far,” Sharp explained, “insofar as the office, apart from Kim Davis, exists to perform certain public functions. Kim Davis does not have to personally touch every marriage license. She employs people for the purpose of carrying out the duties of that office. To the extent Kim Davis has an erroneous instruction of her ability to block them from doing that, that, nonetheless, does not mean that they cannot perform those functions.”

[PoliticAverse]

1. Who really cares how long she drags out her 15 minutes as long as licenses are being issued? n/t

[longship]

2. At least we'll have SitNextTo Kim Davis Twitter to keep us all entertained.

https://twitter.com/nexttokimdavis?lang=en

High art there. There's nothing worse than a pissed off staffer. And even Star Trek cast members got involved.

Well worth a look see.

My summary here from earlier:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=7146219

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. Whoever is writing that is just plain hilarious,

although the clerk who really does sit next to Kim Davis is not quite as amused by it as the rest of us.

Not Amused: She sits next to Kim Davis

Kristina Goetz, @KGoetz1 5:44 p.m. EDT September 4, 2015

Her name is Melissa Thompson. She does, in fact, sit next to embattled Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis. And she's not amused.

Amid the controversy over Davis' refusal to issue marriage licenses for same-sex couples, a parody Twitter account @nexttokimdavis has emerged with Thompson's photo and a slew of offensive, profanity-laced tweets that are definitely #NSFW.

Thompson, a deputy clerk in Rowan County, said she's seen the Twitter feed and doesn't think it's funny — "not with that language." She declined to comment further.

The account, which had roughly 8,500 followers Wednesday night, has shot up to more than 64,000 in just two days.

[longship]

4. I love that Denise Crosby, (Star Trek's Tasha Yar) got involved.

And George Takei, and Wil Wheaton (Star Trek's Wesley Crusher).

And the take down of the media is precious. But the battle for parking spots, office supplies, and munchies is pretty brutal. Where's my Diet @MountainDew?

Here's a taste (so to speak):

Sitnexto Kim Davis ?@nexttokimdavis
.@gaynewsradio @LambdaLegal #KimDavis I HAD SOME STRING CHEESE IN THE FRIDGE AND ALL THE SUDDEN SHE'S EATING GODDAMN STRING CHEESE

Beautiful!

[shenmue]

5. Oh, great

More chances for parasites like Huckabee to get his nasty face on the news.

[Aerows]

6. If she gets sent back to jail again

until January when the legislature convenes, I'd be impressed. I suspect a week or two and she will be wailing about how persecuted she is because she doesn't like the food, the toilet paper or some ridiculous complaint so she "has" to relent.