Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis Ordered Pay Gay Couple $100,000 For Denying Them Marriage License

A federal jury awarded a gay couple $100,000 after they sued former Kentucky clerk Kim Davis for refusing to grant two same-sex couples, David Ermold and David Moore, and, James Yates and Will Smith, marriage licenses.

Davis was found guilty of violating the couple’s constitutional rights and was voted out as a Rowan County clerk. She cited religious beliefs as her reason for denying the license.

Davis also spent time in jail over her refusal to perform her duties of her office. She was later freed after her staff issued the licenses on her behalf, but her name was removed. The incident involving Davis would later influence the Kentucky state legislature to enact a law that removed the names of all county clerks from state marriage licenses. 

The Ashland jury awarded Ermold and Moore $50,000 each, while Yates and Smith received no damages in a ruling by U.S. District Judge David Bunning.

Bunning ruled that Davis “cannot use her own constitutional rights as a shield to violate the constitutional rights of others while performing her duties as an elected official.” 

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Davis’ representative, Mat Staver, said he and Davis “look forward to appealing this decision and taking this case to the U.S. Supreme Court” in a statement.