A federal judge has just found Kentucky clerk Kim Davis in contempt of court for defying a Supreme Court ruling by refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses. Davis is an Apostolic Christian who cites her beliefs, saying that issuing the licenses would be in violation of her religion and her conscience. Outside the courthouse, the public response was similar to responses across the media: a polarized mix of cheers and jeers for Davis. Today we bring you a few different media perspectives on this story.
 
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Snippets from the Left
Salon
"The Constitution is the governing power in Kim Davis’ office, and she is bound by oath to adhere to the law. She is breaking that oath, defying the Constitution, abusing her authority, and insisting that she suffer no consequences for her behavior.
Davis’ illegal and morally dubious stand against gay marriage does appeal, however, to the slice of the conservative movement that is hell bent on restoring the good old days of godly virtue when you had the state’s blessing to discriminate against gay people.
…There are a number of Republican presidential candidates who are trying to motivate that highly politically active segment of the population to get behind their campaigns, and that’s led us to a situation in which people running for the nation’s highest elected office are cheering on a rogue government employee’s defiance of the Constitution."
 
Snippets from the Right
EXCLUSIVE: Kentucky Clerk: I am prepared to go to jail
Fox News
"Liberty Counsel attorney Mat Staver, who is representing Davis, called the ruling 'outrageous.'
'If this country has come to this point where a judge jails someone like Kim Davis for their religious convictions – then we have lost our religious liberty,' Staver told me.
...
The mainstream media and the activists have been ruthless. They’ve portrayed her as a monster – a right-wing, homophobic hypocrite. She’s been smeared by tabloid-style reports on her checkered past. They’ve written extensively about her failed marriages.
It’s true, she’s been married four times. But what’s missing in the mainstream media coverage is the context. Her life was radically changed by Jesus Christ in 2011, and since then she has become a different person."
 
Snippets from the Center
CNN
"American Civil liberties [sic] Union attorneys argued in a motion filed Monday that Davis 'continues to collect compensation from the Commonwealth for duties she fails to perform.'
They said they didn't want her to be jailed as punishment, but rather, the attorneys asked the court to 'impose financial penalties sufficiently serious and increasingly onerous' to make her comply with the high court's order.
U.S. District Judge David Bunning, however, apparently felt she deserved jail time, but he also told Davis she could end her incarceration by complying with the Supreme Court order and telling her deputy clerks to do the same.
Celebrations and protests erupted outside the courthouse when those who attended the hearing exited the courtroom with news of the decision."
 
 
News, Kentucky