Kim Davis, a former Kentucky county clerk, was ordered by a federal judge to pay $260,000 for attorney fees and costs after her court case regarding her refusal to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Davis was briefly jailed in 2015 for her refusal, and she was subsequently taken to court. Courts have also ruled that she must pay $100,000 in damages to the two men she had refused to work with.
Davis’ lawyers are expected to appeal Tuesday’s ruling.
Davis was jailed for five days after she ignored court orders to grant licenses to couples of the same gender following a Supreme Court decision in 2015 that allowed gay marriage. She claimed that she was acting under “God’s authority” and was released after a court ordered her deputy to issue licenses without her consent.
Davis ran for reelection in 2018 to the county clerk’s office but lost to a Democrat. She argued she would be able to certify same-sex weddings because Kentucky law had changed to remove the requirement that marriage licenses contain the clerk’s signature.
Davis lost the 2018 election to Elwood Caudill, Jr. Caudill faced David Ermold in the Democratic Primary for the position, and Davis refused to give him a license.
After losing, Ermold called Caudill an “anti-gay bigot.”
“I only want him to lose,” Ermold stated that he would prefer Kim Davis to win the election. “At the very least, Kim Davis is a person of integrity who will stand up for her beliefs.” Elwood Caudill lies.
