For a gay couple in Kentucky, getting a Christian county official in jail is not enough punishment for refusing to issue them their marriage licence—even if they eventually received such licence.
Rowan County clerk Kim Davis is once again facing a legal battle after David Ermold, the plaintiff in the 2015 discrimination lawsuit that sent Davis in jail for five days, has made known that he and the other plaintiffs "want to force her to pay more than they've already made her pay," the Liberty Counsel, the organisation supporting Davis, told CBN News.
Ermold and his partner David Moore were denied marriage licence four times by Davis in 2015, prompting them to file a case against her, resulting in her imprisonment after she defied a court order.
Ermold v. Davis was eventually dismissed after the Kentucky state legislature amended the marriage licence process, repealing the requirement for the county clerk's name and signature to appear on marriage licences.
The court dismissal of the case delivered Davis a decisive victory in her fight for religious freedom, according to Liberty Counsel.
Ermold and the other plaintiffs did receive their marriage licences. But 18 months after Davis spent time in jail, these plaintiffs are still attempting to punish her for living out her faith, according to Roger Gannom, Esq., Vice President for Legal Affairs for the Liberty Counsel in an interview with CBN News.
"These plaintiffs got a marriage licence in September while Kim Davis was in jail but rather than moving on they want to get their pound of flesh, so to speak. They want to force her to pay more than they've already made her pay," Gannom said.
Meanwhile, a federal judge in Ashland, Kentucky ruled that Davis doesn't have to pay $231,000 in legal defence fees to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the group that led a lawsuit against her, Church Militant reported.
In his March 6 ruling, Judge Edward Atkins denied a motion by several plaintiffs who sued Davis in September 2015 for refusing to sign marriage licences for same-sex couples.
The ACLU is now vowing to fight the court ruling.
"The ACLU and others still want to punish Kim Davis for daring to take a stand for religious liberty," said Horatio Mihet, Vice President of Legal Affairs and Chief Litigation Counsel of Liberty Counsel. "The court recognized that the ACLU does not deserve to get paid for its bullying. Kim Davis never violated her conscience, and she still has her job and her freedom—that is a win for Kim and for all Americans who want to perform public service without being forced to compromise their religious liberties," said Mihet.
