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Kim Davis Woes Continue as Gay Couples Demand Cash

CBN

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The Kim Davis case is still not over. Attorneys for the gay couples that sued Davis last year over her refusal to give them marriage licenses want a federal judge to make her pay their $233,058 in legal fees and costs. 

The original lawsuit went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court after Davis did not want to issue marriage licenses to gay couples, due to her Christian faith. 

She lost the battle in court at every turn, and even went to jail for five days on contempt charges before the state legislature changed Kentucky's marriage license procedures to remove the county clerks' names. 

In August, U.S. District Judge David Bunning dismissed the couples' lawsuit against Davis because the issue had been resolved. 

But The Lexington Herald-Leader reports the lawyers for the gay couples claim that does not change the fact that she refused to do her duty last year, which forced them to sue her. 

"Courts recognize that when successful civil rights plaintiffs obtain a direct benefit from a court-ordered victory, such as in this case, they can be entitled to their legal expenses to deter future civil rights violations by government officials," William Sharp, legal director of the Kentucky ACLU and one of the lawyers for the couples, said. 

Davis's lawyers at Liberty Counsel asked Bunning to deny the request for legal fees. 

They say since the couples did not win in the case against Davis, and since it was resolved in the legislature and not a courtroom, the gay couples' lawyers are not entitled to hand someone else the bill for their fees. 

Rowan County also filed a response saying that whatever Bunning decided regarding the legal fees, the county government should not have to pay anything. 

They added that Davis did not act on the behalf of Rowan County when she refused to issue marriage licenses and the county's fiscal court did not control operations within her office. 

"County clerks are not employees of the county, but instead are the holders of elective office pursuant to the Kentucky Constitution," according to an attorney from Rowan County. 

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