Renegade county clerk Kim Davis does not have "a substantial likelihood of success" according to the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals as the panel killed her latest attempt to delay issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
The court on Tuesday denied her request for a stay of a federal judge's orders that she issue the licenses while her court case against Kentucky governor Steve Beshear progresses.
Davis is suing Beshear over his post-Supreme Court decision instructing all clerks in the state to issue licenses to same-sex couples. The court denied her request for a stay while the case is decided, but allowed the lawsuit to continue moving forward.
Davis first stopped issuing licenses to both straight and gay couples following June's Supreme Court ruling in favor of marriage equality. After four couples of mixed sexual orientations sued her for refusing to do her job, a federal judge ordered Davis to issue the licenses. Her multiple appeals of the decision have all failed.
Still, she defied the law and was jailed September 3 for contempt. Davis spent five full days behind bars before being released on the sixth day. Federal Judge David Bunning freed her after her deputy clerks began issuing licenses, as required by the judge. After being released, Davis has continued to refuse to issue the licenses herself, but has allowed her deputy clerks to do so if her name is not on the document. The licenses have been changed to say they have been issued "pursuant to a federal court order."
She has another appeal currently pending as well, arguing that the judge ruled improperly by extending his order to all couples seeking marriage licenses instead of narrowly tailoring his decision to the four couples who sued her. The appeal is not expected to win.
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