KENTUCKY: Federal Court Rejects ACLU’s Demand For Legal Fees In Case Against County Clerk Kim Davis

The Huffington Post reports:

The American Civil Liberties Union will not be able to recoup legal fees it incurred in a lawsuit against Kim Davis, the county clerk in Kentucky who spent five days in jail after refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, a federal court has ruled.

On Monday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Edward Atkins denied an ACLU motion requesting Davis, or rather Rowan County, pay $233,058.08 in attorney’s fees and costs that the organization incurred during a lawsuit it brought on behalf of four couples.

Filed in September, the motion was meant to “send a message to government officials that willful violations of individuals’ rights will be costly,” ACLU of Kentucky legal director William Sharp said at the time. Davis’ legal representation, however, dismissed it as a final “Hail Mary.”

The Liberty Counsel reacts:



“The ACLU and others still want to punish Kim Davis for daring to take a stand for religious liberty,” said Horatio Mihet, Liberty Counsel’s Vice President of Legal Affairs and Chief Litigation Counsel, “but today the court recognized that the ACLU does not deserve to get paid for its bullying. Kim Davis never violated her conscience, and she still has her job and her freedom—that is a win for Kim and for all Americans who want to perform public service without being forced to compromise their religious liberties,” said Mihet.