Kim Davis, Kentucky Court Clerk Who Refused to Issue Gay Marriage Licenses, Has Been Arrested

The Kentucky court clerk who has refused to award gay marriage licenses despite a Supreme Court ruling that legalized gay marriage nationwide has been arrested for defying the law of the land.

The New York Times reports that Kim Davis was taken into custody for refusing to grant gay marriage licenses and she rejected a compromise proposed by the judge that would have allowed her to get out jail. Federal Judge David L. Bunning, who was appointed by George W. Bush, had suggested that deputies in Rowan County, Kentucky be the ones to hand out the licenses under her authority, allowing her to avoid being directly involved. Davis rejected that idea and as a result is still incarcerated.

Davis belongs to the Apostolic Church and said that her religious convictions are what prevented her from issuing the licenses. Of the deputies in Rowan County who would issue the licenses, five of the six said they would cooperate with the law. Some of the deputies said they were reluctant to do so, however, and the only deputy who refused the proposition outright was actually Davis' son.

Republicans running for president in the Republican primary were quick to try to capitalize on the arrest. Kentucky Senator Rand Paul said that it was, "absurd," that she was arrested. While Mike Huckabee, a darling of the religious right, said that religious liberty must be "defended."

The gay couples who Davis denied marriage licenses to did not ask that she be arrested, and actually requested that the judge just fine her. The judge thought that would not be enough to compel to her obey the law and thus had her arrested.