Summary: The Kentucky County Clerk famous for taking a stand last year against issuing gay marriage licenses is back in the news facing new legal troubles.
Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis is back in the news after months of being absent. Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin changed the way marriage licenses are created with the county clerks’ names being left off so that Davis would no longer have a personal issue issuing marriage licenses to gay couples and thus removing any reason for Davis to remain in the spotlight. However, now the Campaign for Accountability (CfA) wants to know the extent of Davis’ relationship with the Liberty Counsel.
Read Kim Davis’ Law Firm Labeled a “Hate Group”.
The CfA was founded only a year ago as a nonprofit U.S. Government accountability and ethics watchdog organization. Their first lawsuit against the Securities and Exchange Commission was thrown out by a federal judge. The lawsuit was filed against the SEC for “failing to enact a regulation requiring corporations to disclose their political contributions that would inform investors how corporations are spending their money.” The lawsuit was dismissed for failing to show that the “SEC had a clear legal duty to begin a rulemaking proceeding.”
The CfA has filed an Open Records Act request to obtain information that would usually be regarded as protected under attorney-client privilege. They have made it clear that attorney-client privilege is no longer a privilege, especially when it involves the Liberty Counsel, an organization regarded as anti-LGBT by the LGBT community.
See Attorney-Client Privilege Under Fire on the East Coast?
Davis handed over some of the documents the CfA wanted access to but stated the other information was protected. When Attorney General Andy Beshear (D) stepped in and requested the documents to be viewed “in camera” or privately without disclosure, the Liberty Counsel refused because Beshear is part of the ongoing litigation between Davis and the Kentucky state government.
The Liberty Counsel insists their representation of Davis has been pro bono, not yet deciding whether to challenge Beshear’s ruling or just hand over the documents.
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To learn more about Kim Davis, read Rowan County Clerk Defies Order to Give Marriage Licenses to Same-Sex Couples.
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