Most cities and counties in the US issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Photo: Bart Vis | FlickrCC. |
No Supreme Court justice publicly dissented at the denial of
Davis’ plea, says The Washington Post, as the fact
that same-sex marriage is now legal throughout the country would indicate. The
letter of denial of stay for Davis’ case was one
sentence. Kentucky Governor Steven Beshear has also ordered Davis—and all
county clerks in the state—to issue marriage licenses, with which Davis has
also refused to comply.
Though Davis very much has the right to live her life in the
way she finds best suits her as well as to practice any religious belief she likes,
but she does not have the right to her job as a county clerk, says Jonathan H.
Adler. The position she fills reports and adheres to any judgment passed by the
Supreme Court; it is a legal office, bound to legal practices, and if an
employee of the law finds that they are unable to comply with the duties of
their position, they are no longer fit to serve it. Justice Scalia explained
this very principle in a 2002
article, writing that if he concluded that the death penalty were immoral,
he should no longer be a justice.
“While
my views on the morality of the death penalty have nothing to do with how I
vote as a judge, they have a lot to do with whether I can or should be a judge
at all,” writes Scalia. “I could not take part in that process if I believed what
was being done to be immoral.” Therefore, if Davis believes the orders of the
federal courts to be immoral, she should no longer serve as a county clerk.
Davis’
case represents a frustrating intersection between federal mandates and
religious freedom laws. Her lawyers say that the mandate is “trampling on her
rights of conscience,” Davis’ refusal to do as the law instructs her will very
likely lead to her resignation—or removal—from her office.
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