Kentucky clerk Kim Davis tells court that new law resolves her requests

Kim Davis, the Rowan County clerk jailed for her faith regarding marriage, notified the Federal Court of Appeals that the new Kentucky law resolves her request for religious liberty accommodation. “The passage of the Kentucky law provides the exact relief Kim Davis requested from the beginning,” said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel, which represents Kim Davis.

The Motion that filed today at the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals states that Kentucky Senate Bill 216 (“SB 216”) will take effect July 14, ninety days after it was passed unanimously by the legislature and signed by Gov. Matt Bevin. The Motion states: “SB 216 amends key provisions of the Kentucky marriage licensing scheme at issue here. Specifically, SB 216 expressly modifies the Kentucky marriage licensing scheme to remove entirely a County Clerk’s name, personal identifiers, and authorization from any license, thereby providing through a change in the law the very religious accommodation Davis sought from the beginning of this litigation.”

Photo/Nodar Kherkheulidze via wikimedia commons

“From the beginning, Kim Davis requested the very accommodation for her religious convictions that the Kentucky legislature passed and which Gov. Matt Bevin signed into law. The previous governor could have made the same accommodation but refused to do so. Instead, he was willing to violate deeply-held religious convictions about marriage in order to press his ideological agenda. Now that Kim Davis obtained the accommodation she has always requested, we notified the Court of Appeals that the case has become moot and no further legal proceedings are needed. We are very pleased with this outcome,” said Staver.

Kim Davis commented, “I am thankful to the legislators for passing this law, to Gov. Matt Bevin for signing it, to Liberty Counsel for representing me, and most of all to Jesus Christ who redeemed me and is my solid rock on which I stand. I am pleased that I can continue to serve my community as the Rowan County Clerk without having to sacrifice my religious convictions and conscience.”

Liberty Counsel is an international nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989, by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics.