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ACLU Files Motion: Kim Davis Defied Court Orders, Interfered with Licenses

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The American Civil Liberties Union filed a motion yesterday in Kentucky District Court claiming that Kim Davis defied court orders by directing deputy clerks to alter marriage licenses and that the clerk’s office needs to issue new, correct licenses in order for them to be valid.

Writes the ACLU in a press release:

The motion argues that the significant alteration of licenses at the direction of Ms. Davis – having a deputy sign them as a notary public rather than as a deputy clerk, removing any reference to the Rowan County clerk’s office, and stating that they are issued pursuant to court order – violates the court’s September 3 order directing Ms. Davis and her deputies to issue licenses and its September 8 order that released Ms. Davis from jail under the condition that she not interfere with the process.

“The clerk’s office needs to issue valid licenses that comply with the court’s orders,” said James Esseks, director of the ACLU’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Project. “It’s sad that Ms. Davis has continued to interfere with the basic constitutional right of all loving couples to marry and that the plaintiff couples have to ask the court to intervene once again.”

The filing asks the court to order the clerk’s office to issue the same licenses that were issued on or before September 8, when Davis was released from jail.  The motion also asks the court to order the deputy clerks to disregard any contrary instructions from Ms. Davis and requests that she be ordered to immediately stop interfering or face civil contempt fines and the placement of the clerk’s office into a receivership for the purpose of issuing marriage licenses.

Read the motion:

Another altered marriage license:

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