A federal judge on Tuesday ruled that
Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis is complying with his order to issue
marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples.
U.S. District Judge David Bunning made
the declaration in denying the American Civil Liberties Union's
(ACLU) request to order Davis to reissue licenses she had altered.
Davis, the elected clerk of Rowan
County, last year defied Bunning's ruling ordering her office to
issue marriage licenses to all qualified couples, claiming that to do
so would violate her conscience. She was sent briefly to jail.
Davis ultimately issued the licenses, but altered them to remove her
name and title. The episode turn her into a Christian celebrity.
(Related: Kim
Davis says God chose her to block gay marriage.)
“There has been no indication that
Davis has continued to interfere with the issuance of marriage
licenses since September 20, 2015,” Bunning
wrote. “Moreover, there is every reason to believe that any
altered licenses issued between September 14, 2015 and September 20,
2015 would be recognized as valid under Kentucky law, making
re-issuance unnecessary. Under these circumstances, the Court finds
that Plaintiffs' request for relief is now moot.”
(Thanks to Equality
Case Files.)