The Kentucky clerk who refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses had her fate handed to her on Monday by the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court ruled against Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, who will have to arrive at work on Tuesday morning to face the decision in the real world, according to Christian Science Monitor.
At this point, Davis will have to decide whether she will issue marriage licenses to everyone which would be defying her Christian conviction or continue to refuse them, going directly against a federal judge who could slap her with heavy fines or haul her off to jail.
“She’s going to have to think and pray about her decision overnight. She certainly understands the consequences either way,” Mat Staver, founder of the law firm representing Davis, said on Monday, hours before a court-ordered delay in the case expired. “She’ll report to work tomorrow, and face whatever she has to face.”
Tuesday morning will be a heavy day for Davis as her decisions and the court’s decision will affect her life professionally and personally. A large amount of couples that were turned away by her again and again since the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage have said they will be waiting at her courthouse door come Tuesday.
“Wow, wow, wow, I can’t believe it, we might finally be able to get a license tomorrow,” April Miller said Monday night, shortly after the court’s decision. Miller was denied two times of a marriage license to marry her partner who she has been with for over 10 years.
The judge that oversaw the 6th district appeals court, Justice Elena Kagan, said that if Davis does continue to turn away people and not issue licenses, the couples’ attorneys who are turned away can ask a judge to hold her in contempt of court which could carry very heavy fines or jail time.
One of the attorneys representing the couples, Dan Canon, said they hope that Davis will simply hand out licenses as they are requested come Tuesday morning and expressed the clear hope that Davis will not end up behind bars.
“But if she continues to defy the court’s order, we cannot let that continue unaddressed,” he said Monday night. “It all depends on what happens tomorrow.”
