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Kentucky gov: Kim Davis’ legal arguments are ‘absurd’
‘Absurd,’ ‘forlorn’ and ‘obtuse.’
These are the words lawyers for Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear have used to describe the legal arguments put forward by Kim Davis, the county clerk who was jailed for repeatedly refusing to issue gay marriage licenses.
Davis has sued Beshear. And has blamed him for her imprisonment and accused him of having ‘commandeered’ county clerk offices and ‘usurped control of Kentucky marriage law.’
‘Simply stated, Davis’ role is a legal one – not a moral or religious one,’ Beshear’s attorneys wrote in a court document filed Tuesday (29 September) asking that the suit be thrown out.
The day the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage on 24 June, Beshear sent a letter to the state’s 120 county clerks directing them to grant licenses to same-sex couples.
‘Neither your oath nor the Supreme Court dictates what you must believe. But as elected officials, they do prescribe how we must act,’ he wrote.
In response, Davis stopped issuing licenses altogether. Four gay couples she denied licenses then sued her and she filed a counter-suit against Beshear.
Beshear’s lawyer, Palmer G Vance, described Davis’ continued legal battle as a ‘meritless assault on the rule of law.’ Even if Beshear had not instructed clerks to follow the law, the Supreme Court and subsequent court orders required her to do so, he wrote.
Davis’s attorneys at Liberty Counsel responded to Beshear in a statement.
‘Unfortunately, having run out of legal arguments, Governor Beshear has now resorted to childish antics and name-calling,’ it read.
‘This appears to be yet another obvious attempt by the Governor at avoiding the actual merits of Kim Davis’s religious liberty claims.’
US District Judge David Bunning – the same judge who jailed Davis – is expected to rule soon on whether the suit can continue.
The post Kentucky gov: Kim Davis’ legal arguments are ‘absurd’ appeared first on Gay Star News.
Darren Wee
www.gaystarnews.com/article/kentucky-gov-kim-davis-legal-arguments-are-absurd/
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