Appeals court revives gay couple's damages claim against Kim Davis

Kentucky's Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, who was briefly jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, makes remarks after receiving the "Cost of Discipleship" award at a Family Research Council conference in Washington September 25, 2015. | Reuters/James Lawler Duggan

A federal appeals court has ruled that a gay couple can sue Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis for damages for refusing to sign their marriage licenses in 2015 due to her Christian beliefs.

The Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati overturned a lower court judge who tossed out the damages claims of David Ermold and David Moore as moot in August 2016 after Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin issued an executive order allowing marriage licenses to be printed without the clerk's name.

Davis, a clerk in Rowan County and a born-again Apostolic Christian, said she was willing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples, but she asked for a religious exemption to not sign her name on them because she believes that it would constitute an endorsement of homosexuality.

The gay couple eventually obtained a marriage license, but the three-judge appeals court ruled that they could sue Davis due to her initial refusal to grant one, following a U.S. Supreme Court decision in June 2015 which stated that the Constitution guaranteed the right to same-sex marriage.

"The district court's characterization of this case as simply contesting the 'no marriage licenses' policy is inaccurate because Ermold and Moore did not seek an injunction-they sought only damages," Circuit Judge Karen Nelson Moore wrote, according to Reuters.

"The record does not support an argument that (their) damages claims are insubstantial or otherwise foreclosed," the judge added.

The appeals court sent Ermold and Moore's case back to U.S. District Judge David Bunning in Covington, Kentucky.

"The ruling keeps the case alive for a little while but it is not a victory for the plaintiffs," said Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, a Christian advocacy group representing Davis. "We are confident we will prevail," he added.

Bunning was the same judge who sent Davis to jail for contempt of court in September 2015 due to her refusal to sign marriage licenses for gay couples.

The judge ordered her release from jail on Sept. 8 on the condition that she does not "interfere in any way" regarding the issuing of marriage licenses to homosexuals.

Davis dropped her request for religious accommodation after the Kentucky legislature and senate approved a bill in June 2016 to remove county clerks' names, personal identification, and authorization from state marriage licenses.

Michael Gartland, a lawyer for Ermold and Moore, noted that damages claims based on past harm often survive mootness challenges.

"Do I think it's a million dollar case? Probably not," Gartland said. "The next step will be to go to discovery and go to trial, where I am confident we will obtain a judgment against Davis," he added.