Kim Davis, the Rowan County clerk in Kentucky who has repeatedly refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, lost her bid for a stay Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court denied her application.
As is often the case in such rejections, the decision came without comment: "The application for stay presented to Justice Kagan and by her referred to the Court is denied."
The court's one-line order did not mention whether any justices dissented.
The request for a stay stems from a lawsuit that was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of four couples who say in their complaint that Davis "adopted a policy and/or practice of refusing to issue marry licenses to any couple, same-sex or different-sex, even though they are otherwise legally entitled to marry."
As the Two-Way has reported, "a district judge had ordered her to start issuing the licenses, but Davis filed an appeal and the judge said she could wait until Aug. 31 or for a decision from the U.S. 6th District Court of Appeals — whichever came first."
That decision came last Wednesday, when the federal appeals court ruled against Davis. But on Thursday, she turned away a couple who had sought a marriage license. Davis then sought a stay from the Supreme Court.
According to the lawsuit, Davis adopted her policy of not issuing any marriage licenses in late July, a month after the Supreme Court declared that marriage between same-sex couples is a right.
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