Jailed Kentucky Clerk Not Backing Down

The Kentucky county clerk who was jailed for contempt after she refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples will remain in custody without resigning, her lawyer said on Friday.

Matthew Staver, the founder and chairman of Liberty Council, a conservative group representing Rowan County clerk Kim Davis, outlined their next steps at a Friday press conference. The group will appeal a federal judge’s ruling that Davis was in contempt of court, Staver said, as well as pursue a judgement that she was wrongfully jailed, as a way of securing Davis’ release. In the meantime, Davis plans to hold her ground from jail, though deputy county clerks began issuing licenses to same-sex couples in her absence on Friday.

“One thing that Kim Davis will never do is imprison her conscience even though she may be physically incarcerated,” Staver said at the conference. Staver added that Davis and her counsel believe the marriage licenses issued with the authority of her office on Friday are void, and “not worth the paper they are written on.”

Staver said Davis is “definitely” going to be in jail until Tuesday. A federal judge ordered Davis jailed in contempt of court for defying the judge’s order to dispense licenses to same-sex couples. Davis became a figurehead for opponents to the Supreme Court’s ruling when she would not issue marriage licenses following the decision.