White House spokesman Josh Earnest said
Thursday that he would not second-guess a judge's decision to jail a
Kentucky clerk who refuses to issue marriage licenses to gay and
lesbian couples.
Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis was found
in contempt of court for refusing to issue such licenses on religious
grounds.
(Related: KY
clerk Kim Davis ordered jailed for refusing to issue marriage
licenses to gay couples.)
“I would not from this vantage point
second-guess those decisions,” Earnest told reporters.
“There's a rule of law and the
principle of the rule of law is central to our democracy,” he
added. “And it's appropriate in this instance for a federal judge
to determine the best way to enforce the law.”