Judge: Religious Faith Doesn't Take Precedence Over Oath of Office

ASHLAND, Ky. (AP) - A federal judge has ordered a defiant Kentucky clerk to jail after she refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.

    

U.S. District Judge David Bunning told Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis she would be jailed until she complied with his order to issue the licenses. Davis said "thank you" before she was led out of the courtroom by a U.S. marshal. She was not in handcuffs.

    

Davis has refused to issue marriages licenses for two months since the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage. She argues that her Christian faith should exempt her from signing the licenses.

    

The judge who jailed a Kentucky clerk who refuses to issue marriage licenses says he didn't make the decision lightly.

    

In court on Thursday, U.S. District Judge David Bunning said he doesn't think Rowan County clerk Kim Davis is combative. She has refused to issues licenses because of her religious beliefs about gay marriage.

    

But, Bunning said, "Her good faith belief is simply not a viable defense."

    

Bunning also spoke of his own religious beliefs. But he said that the oath he took, and the oath Davis took, supersedes those beliefs.

    

Bunning also said that it's not his job or the court's job to write laws or make changes. But he noted that the legislative and executive branches can do so.

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