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Kentucky's Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis refuses to issue marriage licenses because of her objection to same-sex marriage.
Now she's in federal custody until she complies with the law.
Davis and her deputies appeared in court before U.S. District Judge David Bunning Thursday. Davis was charged with contempt of court and taken into federal custody until she agrees to issue same-sex marriage licenses.
Five of her six deputies have agreed to issue same-sex marriage licenses, according to WOWK. The only holdout was Davis' son, who serves under his mother .
Bunning gave Davis another opportunity Thursday afternoon to grant the authority to her deputy clerks to issue same-sex marriage licenses, but she refused. She will remain in contempt of court and will remain jailed until she complies, according to The Courier-Journal.
The Rowan County clerk's office is expected to open Friday morning and issue same-sex marriage licenses, but without the signature of Davis on them, the licenses may be in murky legal territory.
Continue reading the original story below.
In a video captured by BBC News, Kim Davis said, "We are not issuing marriage licenses today."
"Based on what? Why are you not issuing marriage licenses today?" asked one protestor.
"Because I'm not," Davis responded.
She's still refusing even after the Supreme Court denied her request to be excused from issuing same-sex marriage licenses.
"Pending the appeal in the 6th circuit — the appeal stay has been denied," Davis said in a video captured by WLEX.
A protester replied, "The Supreme Court denied your stay."
Davis says issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples "would violate [her] conscience," citing her religious beliefs.
But what will happen to the county clerk if she continues to refuse?
Davis is an elected official, so she can't just be fired. She could be impeached but only by the state legislature.
The Wall Street Journal says that probably won't happen: "Politically, that's an unlikely scenario in the conservative state."
State law could be changed to take clerks' names off of marriage licenses. But it's also unlikely Kentucky's governor will hold a special session to change the law. (Video via WYMT)
Two couples denied by Davis say they don't want her to go to jail. They're asking for her to be fined.
This video includes images from Getty Images and music from Chris Zabriskie / CC BY 4.0.
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