The law will prevail
Published September 5, 2015
Editorial by Greensboro News-Record, September 5, 2015.
Kim Davis is not a woman being persecuted for her religious beliefs. She’s a public official who refused to do her job. That’s why the elected Rowan County, Ky., clerk was jailed Thursday for contempt of court by U.S. District Judge David Bunning.
“I myself have genuinely held religious beliefs,” Bunning said, but “I took an oath.”
Davis stopped issuing marriage licenses in June when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that state laws barring same-sex unions were unconstitutional.
Many Americans didn’t like that decision. Maybe Bunning didn’t. It’s irrelevant; he has a job to do. That job is not to enforce his own religious beliefs but to uphold the law.
Davis, a Democrat, contended that God’s law should prevail over court rulings. In her personal life, in her church or in some other private setting, she’s entitled to hold that view. But not in her public office. If she can’t accept that, or if she doesn’t understand the distinction, she should resign and let someone better suited take her place. Indeed, with her out of the way Friday, her office resumed issuing marriage licenses.
Bunning, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, attempted to explain an important American principle: “In this country, we live in a society of laws. Our system of justice requires citizens — and significantly, elected officials — to follow the rules of the courts.”
Yet that idea has drawn criticism from people in prominent positions. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a Republican presidential candidate, called Davis a victim of “judicial tyranny” and denied that the U.S. Supreme Court can overrule state laws. Others seem to think the same thing, even though Chief Justice John Marshall wrote in Marbury v. Madison in 1803, “It is emphatically the province and duty of the Judicial Department to say what the law is.” The Constitution is supreme, and when state law conflicts with the Constitution, it must yield. That is vital to the concept that our United States ultimately are governed by a single rule of law.
Unfortunately, North Carolina enacted a law this summer to allow some state employees to claim the same position as Davis. Magistrates may recuse themselves from conducting civil marriages and register of deeds employees may refuse to issue marriage licenses — as long as someone is available to provide those services. Davis herself, as an elected official, would not be excused under the North Carolina law, but her employees would have that option.
Sen. Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) devised this law and believes it’s a good compromise. “It’s keeping folks from having to choose between their jobs and their religious beliefs,” he said.
That choice is exactly what Judge Bunning correctly said is required of public employees.
If the issue were guns, conservatives might see it more clearly. Would they tolerate a sheriff who said his religious beliefs did not allow him to issue handgun permits? Wouldn’t they cite the Constitution and court rulings to insist that the sheriff do his job?
When James Yates and William Smith Jr. applied for a marriage license in Rowan County, Ky., Friday morning, they were treated with civility by Deputy Clerk Brian Mason and granted their license. What is Mason’s personal or religious belief about same-sex marriage? It doesn’t matter. He did his job, and it didn’t compromise his beliefs one bit.
September 6, 2015 at 10:45 am
John Lane says:
In my lifetime working different jobs,if you refused to do it or did it poorly,you were suspended or terminated.But in this case she was locked up? She was locked up for here beleifs. Just another example of what America is coming to.
