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Clerks Hold Breath Ahead of Marriage License Ruling

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LIBERTY, Ky. – It's a battle pitting same-sex marriage against religious liberty.
    
A federal judge rules this week in the case of Kim Davis, a Kentucky clerk who stopped issuing all marriage licenses after the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage.

And Davis isn't the only clerk watching to see what the judge decides.      

The Case of Casey Davis

Liberty is a small Kentucky town that's gained national attention in recent weeks. At the heart of it: Casey County clerk Casey Davis. 

"I watched this show the other day, where they devoted about 20 minutes of time, trying to insult my intelligence. Called me everything and said every vulgar thing that they could," he said.
 
That's because Casey Davis stopped issuing all marriage licenses after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage.   

"When the ruling came down, I was placed in a dilemma of what to do and how to be fair and not discriminate," he explained.
 
Davis is a devout Christian. He and nearly 60 other clerks sent letters to Gov. Steve Beshear asking for a special legislative session to protect their religious liberty.
 
Davis even met with the governor personally.     
 
"What he wanted was simply for me to do my job or do the honorable thing and resign," Davis told CBN News.

As clerk, Davis serves about 16,000 residents in Casey County. In 2014, his office issued just 29 marriage licenses -– and so far in 2015, just 43.

"One of the smallest parts of my job has become what's engulfing all of my life and time," he said.
 
Davis isn't alone.

Lawsuits Piling Up
 
Whitley County clerk Kay Schwartz also stopped issuing licenses. And Rowan County clerk Kim Davis is facing a lawsuit for doing likewise.
 
Kim Davis isn't talking publicly about the lawsuit filed against her. But she did testify in court that the decision to stop issuing all marriage licenses came only after prayer and fasting.
 
Kim Davis has now filed suit against the governor. 
 
There's also Boone County clerk Kenny Brown, who temporarily stopped issuing licenses.

"The County Clerk's office touches more lives in Kentucky communities than any other elected official or office," he said.
 
He considered resigning. Instead, he's working on legislation that would take the task of issuing marriage licenses out of the hands of the clerk's office and put it online instead. 

"I believe this is going to be an issue, just like abortion," he told CBN News. "The abortion decision was made 40 years ago. This is going to come up in every political race, whether you are running for county clerk, Congress or city council."

The plaintiffs in the case against Kim Davis did not respond to CBN's requests for an interview.
    
Meanwhile, a judge could issue his ruling in the next 24 hours.

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About The Author

Efrem Graham
Efrem
Graham

Efrem Graham is an award-winning journalist who came to CBN News from the ABC-owned and operated station in Toledo, Ohio. His most recent honor came as co-anchor of the newscast that earned the station’s morning news program its first Emmy Award. Efrem was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, but his formal television and journalism career was born across the Hudson River in New York City. He began as an NBC Page and quickly landed opportunities to work behind-the-scenes in local news, network news, entertainment, and the network’s Corporate Communications Department. His work earned him the NBC