The Supreme Court on Monday denied a
Kentucky clerk's request to block a judge's ruling ordering her to
issue marriage licenses to all eligible couples.
Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis turned to
the nation's highest court after an appeals court denied her request.
In her emergency application to Justice
Elena Kagan – who referred the request to the full court – Davis
asked for “asylum for her conscience.”
“[Davis] holds an undisputed
sincerely-held religious belief that marriage is a union between a
man and a woman, only,” Davis' lawyers argued. “Thus, in her
belief, SSM [same-sex marriage] is not, in fact, marriage.”
Rather than serve gay and lesbian
couples after the Supreme Court struck down gay marriage bans in all
50 states, Davis stopped issuing marriage licenses to all couples.
Four couples, two of whom are gay, filed a lawsuit.
If Davis does not comply with the
order, she could face fines or jail time.
“She's going to have to think and
pray about her decision overnight,” Mat Staver, founder of Liberty
Counsel, the Christian conservative law group that is representing
Davis, told the AP on Monday. “She'll report to work tomorrow, and
face whatever she has to face.”