Last month, a federal judge ruled that the state of Kentucky would have to pay more than $200,000 in attorney’s fees stemming from the legal fight over Rowan County clerk Kim Davis’ refusal to issue marriage licenses in the wake of the Supreme Court’s marriage equality ruling in 2015.
On today’s “Faith and Freedom” radio broadcast, Liberty Counsel’s Mat Staver, who represented Davis in her legal battle, declared that it is former Gov. Steve Beshear who is at fault for the fact that the state is now on the hook for these legal fees, not Davis, because Beshear didn’t issue an executive order exempting Davis from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
“If, at the end of the day,” Staver said, “the state of Kentucky has to pay for attorney’s fees, whose responsibility is that? It’s not Kim Davis, it’s not Rowan Country, it’s not the current legislative body … it’s certainly not Gov. Matt Bevin.”
“It is the former liberal Democratic Gov. Beshear,” Staver asserted. “Had he [provided a religious liberty accommodation to Davis,] this case never would have gone anywhere. Had he done that, Kim Davis never would have spent any time in jail. Had he done that, the ACLU never would have had a case.”
“Because he was so ideologically blinded with the same-sex marriage agenda and he wanted to force Kim Davis down this path, he would not lift a finger to give a religious liberty accommodation,” Staver insisted. “At the end of the day, worst case scenario, if the commonwealth is ultimately responsible for these fees, it lies at the feet and is the responsibility of the former liberal Gov. Steve Beshear.”
