A federal jury has awarded $100,000 to a Kentucky couple who sued former county clerk Kim Davis over her refusal to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.
Davis, the former Rowan County clerk, gained international attention when she was briefly jailed in 2015 for her refusal to accept marriage, based on her belief that marriage should only be between a man and a woman. Needed
A jury in Ashland, Kentucky, deliberated Wednesday and awarded David Ermold and David Moore $50,000 each, according to Davis’ attorneys. The other couple suing, James Yates and Will Smith, were not awarded any damages by U.S. District Judge David Bunning on Wednesday.
Bunning convicted Davis of contempt of court and sent him to jail for five days in 2015. He was parodied on Saturday Night Live and conservative politicians traveled to Kentucky to support and embrace him.
Davis was released only after his staff issued a license on his behalf, but his name was removed from the form. Kentucky’s state legislature later enacted a law removing the names of all county clerks from state marriage licenses.
Bunning ruled last year that Davis violated the two couples’ constitutional rights. In the ruling, Bunning argued that Davis “cannot use his own constitutional rights as a shield to violate the constitutional rights of others while performing his duties as an elected official.”
The trial, held this week, was held to determine damages against Davis. The former clerk had argued that a legal doctrine called qualified immunity protected him from being sued for damages by the couples.
Matt Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, which represents Davis in the case, said in a release Wednesday that they “look forward to appealing this decision and taking this case to the U.S. Supreme Court.”
The US Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal by Davis’ lawyers in the case in 2020.
Ermold and Moore had a highly publicized clash with Davis at the Rowan County Clerk’s office in 2015 when he asked for a marriage license with news cameras surrounding him. When she refused, Moore asked under whose authority she was acting. He replied, “Under the authority of God.”
Ermold ran unsuccessfully for Rowan County clerk in 2018, when Davis lost to another Democrat. Before running, Ermold and Moore returned to Davis’s office to file to run for clerk, and Davis, who handled election filings, helped Ermold during a brief but cordial meeting.