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BREAKING: Kentucky Deputy Clerk Claims Kim Davis Violated Judge's Order
The lawyer for one of the clerks issuing marriage licenses in Rowan County, Ky., says forms altered by Kim Davis are not valid and in violation of a federal judge's order.
More drama in Kentucky as the attorney for a deputy clerk has accused Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis of disobeying the order of a federal judge by altering marriage licenses to remove her name and that of the county.
Brian Mason, who has been designated to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, raised concerns with his attorney about the alteration of the license, the Associated Press reports.
Davis, who believes same-sex marriage is a sin, stopped issuing all marriage licenses shortly after the Supreme Court's June 26 marriage equality ruling. After several couples sued her, U.S. District Judge David Bunning ordered that she issue licenses without discrimination. For defying his order, she was jailed for contempt of court September 3.
When the judge released Davis from jail September 8, he warned her not to interfere with her deputies, who began issuing licenses during her incarceration. He appointed an attorney for each of her employees and asked to receive updates on the situation every two weeks.
Mason's attorney, Richard Hughes, today told Bunning that when Davis returned to work she confiscated all the forms and altered them to remove her name and the county's.
It appears that "those changes were made in some attempt to circumvent the court's orders and may have raised to the level of interference against the court's orders," Hughes said in a court filing today. "Mr. Mason is concerned because he is in a difficult position that he continues to issue the licenses per the court's order, but is issuing licenses which had some remote questionable validity, but now with these changes may in fact have some substantial questions about validity." Under state law, marriage licenses must be issued under the authority of the county clerk.
"It is expected there will be other parties to the action that will bring a request to this court for a review on whether or not her actions are against the orders of the court and the likelihood that the validity of these marriages licenses would have to be entertained if not in federal district court, state courts," Hughes added.
