Kentucky Clerk Jailed For Defying Court Orders On Gay Marriage

[ummmm]

Breaking news at the moment....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-34145941?ns_mchannel=social&ns_campaign=bbc_breaking&ns_source=twitter&ns_linkname=news_central&ocid=socialflow_facebook

[EcclesCake]

Good news......I'm looking forward to the roll out of further news.

[ummmm]

Me too.

[mikey4444]

There is a God after all !

Nasty old bag !

[Mamyalynne]

Result!

[Jomlett]

The defiant Kim Davis, the Ky. clerk who refuses to issue gay marriage licenses... http://wpo.st/MzGZ0

[ummmm]

For defying court orders?

[mikey4444]

As I understand it, she couldn't be sacked, as she was elected. But she appears to have been arrested for Contempt of Court.

So what happens now ? The County would have to appoint someone to take her place.

Its inconceivable that the County would not have some contingency plans in place, for a situation where the elected official wasn't able to do her job, for one reason or another. Otherwise the place would come to a full stop, every time anybody was ill.

Only in America !

[Mamyalynne]

I'm not sure how it works in the USA with elected officials, surely they would have sacked her earlier if they could.

[mikey4444]

Mamy...as I see it, they were not able to sack her. Daft I know, but I guess that is what they do in the Land of the Free ( free to be a bigot, that is )

[jim360]

The link posted earlier suggests that she cannot be sacked, as an elected official. Quite why you need to elect someone to do what is (meant to be) basically just a bit of paperwork I have no idea.

[Quizproquo]

She can't be fired, she can only resign or be impeached.
I guess she doesn't resign because she likes the money the people she refuses to work for pay her.
She also took an oath, probably on the bible, to carry out her duties. So looks like lying to god is fine by her religion.
The judge has ordered her deputies to issue licenses I think. She's also broken the first amendment, but I don't know what the penalties are for that.
Good riddance to her.

[jim360]

Again with reference to the article above, there is a possible mechanism -- impeachment -- but this comes with a couple of catches. Most notably it can be a rather drawn-out process, but also it may be relevant that, due to her being elected, she is ultimately responsible for conduct in office to the electorate. And in the middle of Kentucky you might well find more voters that support her position rather than oppose it.

In this sense it's not clear that there is any easy way of sacking her, as she could well argue that she's carrying out her job according to the wishes of her effective employers (the voters). But it is clear that there is a criminal case against her as she has refused to carry out her legal duties and rejected attempts to compel her to do so. Hence contempt of court (and imprisonment) is about the only avenue that could be easily pursued against her.

I agree that it is a fairly ridiculous position, and a sacking would be called for in other circumstances. But this case is highlighting how many problems emerge when multiple interests clash -- religious freedoms vs duties of employment, made worse by the arcane rules in operation in the US when it comes to elected officials. And worse still because she shouldn't have been elected at all.

In doing some background reading I discovered that the position of "property valuation" was an elected one as well! I just don't get the US obsession with elections all the time. And it throws up absurd scenarios like this one.

[ummmm]

I doubt the people wanting to get married will give two hoots.

[jim360]

Yes, I certainly don't think this will be the end of the story. Jailing someone because of their religious convictions bringing them into conflict with current state law rarely ends well.

[Svejk]

They might give a hoot if someone shoots them, ummmm.

[Svejk]

Great minds think alike, db. And fools etc.