And off to jail she goes [Kentucky county clerk]

[SepiaAndDust]

'Bout time she wound up behind bars.

A county clerk in Kentucky who refuses to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples on religious grounds was found in contempt of court by a U.S. federal judge on Thursday and taken into custody.

Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis was led away by U.S. marshals.

"The court doesn't do this lightly," District Court Judge David Bunning said in ordering she be taken into custody.

- Source

 

[trunks2k]

Seems the judge had the same concerns I did - that any fines would be offset by people willing to donate money to support her cause, so they would not be compelling enough. Thus jail. Don't mess around with a federal court order.

 

[SepiaAndDust]

From the Courier-Journal:

U.S. District Judge David Bunning said fines were not enough to force her to comply with a previous order to provide the paperwork to all couples. Bunning said allowing her to defy the order would create a "ripple effect."

"Her good-faith belief is simply not a viable defense," he said. "Oaths mean things."

- Source

Her deputies may wind up in jail too (if I'm understanding this right):

The court is expected to reconvene at 1:45 p.m., when Davis' deputies reportedly will tell the judge whether they will comply with the order or risk jail.

 

[Holoman]

Disgusting, sending people to jail over things like this. What happened to the land of the free..

 

[SepiaAndDust]

Disgusting, sending people to jail over things like this. What happened to the land of the free..

Once you swear an oath, you are--by definition--not entirely free.

 

[cow451]

Disgusting, sending people to jail over things like this. What happened to the land of the free..

She happened. That's why she is going to have a brief time in jail.

 

[cow451]

From the Courier-Journal:
Her deputies may wind up in jail too (if I'm understanding this right):

They may lose more than a few days at work. Refusing to carry out a lawful directive by the court is not taken lightly.

 

[seashale76]

Seems the judge had the same concerns I did - that any fines would be offset by people willing to donate money to support her cause, so they would not be compelling enough. Thus jail. Don't mess around with a federal court order.

True. The issue is that those she denied the license to only wanted her to be fined instead of getting jail time as they didn't want her to become some kind of martyr. So, that's a concern now.

She should have either quit her job in protest or did the job she was hired to do. There is nothing right about this woman's antics.

 

[trunks2k]

Disgusting, sending people to jail over things like this. What happened to the land of the free..

She took an oath to abide by the law. Federal courts said that the people have a right to get their marriage licenses and ordered her to either do her job, or resign. She appealed that order to the highest court in the land, which refused to hear the case (implicitly approving the order). She STILL refused to follow the order. That is clearly contempt and the court has every right to institute measures to compel her to follow the order. The means of doing so are fines or jail. The judge does not think that fines would work because he feels she has enough people willing to donate money to cover the costs for her. So jail until she resigns or agrees to do the job she is supposed to do is the appropriate course of action.

 

[Holoman]

Once you swear an oath, you are--by definition--not entirely free.

Of course you are, if I swear an oath to not watch TV tomorrow, I am still free to do it anyway.

 

[Holoman]

She took an oath to abide by the law. Federal courts said that the people have a right to get their marriage licenses and ordered her to either do her job, or resign. She appealed that order to the highest court in the land, which refused to hear the case (implicitly approving the order). She STILL refused to follow the order. That is clearly contempt and the court has every right to institute measures to compel her to follow the order. The means of doing so are fines or jail. The judge does not think that fines would work because he feels she has enough people willing to donate money to cover the costs for her. So jail until she resigns or agrees to do the job she is supposed to do is the appropriate course of action.

Was gay marriage legal when she took that oath?

Since when do we jail people for breaking promises?

 

[trunks2k]

True. The issue is that those she denied the license to only wanted her to be fined instead of getting jail time as they didn't want her to become some kind of martyr. So, that's a concern now.

She was already a martyr. I'm with the judge on this one. Refusing to follow a federal court order is not to be taken lightly.

 

[trunks2k]

Was gay marriage legal when she took that oath?

Irrelevant. Laws change. You don't, as a police officer, get to refuse to arrest someone for committing a crime because it wasn't a crime when you became an officer. There is no grandfather clause here. She is a public servant. She needs to either deal with it and do her job, or resign.

 

[SepiaAndDust]

Was gay marriage legal when she took that oath?

Since when do we jail people for breaking promises?

Depends on the promise, but generally, we don't.

We do, and always have, jail people for refusing to comply with a court order.

 

[Holoman]

Irrelevant. Laws change. You don't, as a police officer, get to refuse to arrest someone for committing a crime because it wasn't a crime when you became an officer. There is no grandfather clause here. She is a public servant. She needs to either deal with it and do her job, or resign.

No its not irrelevant. You can't take an oath to do something you have no knowledge of at the time. How many police officers are sent to jail for not arresting someone?

No one is saying she shouldn't do her job or resign, she was jailed and that is unacceptable.

 

[trunks2k]

Since when do we jail people for breaking promises?

She's not going to jail for breaking a promise. She is going to jail because the court ordered that as a government official, she cannot just refuse to do her job and the people who she is supposed to be serving have a right to be issued marriage licenses and she is refusing to abide by a legal court order.

You can't do that. To allow her to get away with that would be madness.

 

[SepiaAndDust]

No one is saying she shouldn't do her job or resign, she was jailed and that is unacceptable.

She refused to do her job. She refused to resign. What's left?

 

[trunks2k]

No one is saying she shouldn't do her job or resign, she was jailed and that is unacceptable.

She was jailed because she was ordered by the court to do her job or resign. She did neither. Thus the court can take appropriate action to compel her to abide by the order. She will be held in custody until such time she does one or the other.

 

[Blank Stair]

The Apostle Paul was sent to prison for holding to God's will and word. God be with this sister in Christ and give her strength. God have mercy. Amen.

 

[Poor Beggar]

The Apostle Paul was sent to prison for holding to God's will and word. God be with this sister in Christ and give her strength. God have mercy. Amen.

Amen, sister!