Their message is simple: We rule
- A federal judge here on Thursday ordered a Kentucky clerk jailed for contempt of court because of her refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
- The clerk, Kim Davis of Rowan County, was ordered incarcerated after a hearing here before Judge David L. Bunning of Federal District Court. The contempt finding was another legal defeat for Ms. Davis, who has argued that she should not be forced to issue licenses that conflict with her religious beliefs.
- “The court cannot condone the willful disobedience of its lawfully issued order,” Judge Bunning said. “If you give people the opportunity to choose which orders they follow, that’s what potentially causes problems.”
- Judge Bunning said Ms. Davis would be released once she agreed to comply with his order and issue the marriage licenses. --New York Times
- That fascinating question arose as part of a crusade by Rowan County, Kentucky, Clerk Kim Davis to seek a religious exemption from issuing marriage licenses to gay couples. Before the U.S. Supreme Court put the kibosh on her claim, Davis in her legal brief argued that she understood her oath of office "to mean that, in upholding the federal and state constitutions and laws, she would not act in contradiction to the moral law of God."
- Why? Because her oath included the words, "So help me God." Of course, the oath of office prescribed by the U.S. Constitution doesn't include those words. George Washington famously added them after taking the oath of office as president, and tradition has maintained them. Davis's claim, however, is nevertheless intriguing. It implies that obedience to divine law is somehow baked in to one's constitutional duties and obligations. --Newsday
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MEME REPORT:OBAMA'S MOUNT OF DENIAL
