Couples who sued county clerk Kim Davis last year in order to get their marriage licenses have asked U.S. District Court Judge David Bunning to award them $233,058 in legal fees and costs.

Following the Supreme Court’s ruling to legalize same-sex marriage, Davis made national headlines for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in Rowan County, Kentucky.

Her noncompliance forced several same-sex couples to sue her. The cases went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, and Davis lost every single step along the way. She additionally spent five days in jail on contempt charges. Her only win came from the Kentucky legislature’s decision in April to remove county clerks’ names from marriage licenses, which is what she wanted after citing religious objections to same-sex marriage.

In August, the judge dismissed the couples’ cases against her on grounds that the matter had been resolved by the action in the legislature. However, lawyers for the couples argued that Davis still refused to do her job as county clerk when she went against the Supreme Court’s ruling, forcing them to then sue her in order to obtain those licenses.

Davis’ legal team is requesting that the judge deny the couples’ requests for legal fees. According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, Roger K. Gannam of Liberty Counsel–the religious advocacy group that is representing Davis–filed  a response on behalf of Davis Monday. He wrote that since the couples that filed against Davis did not prevail in their cases, they have no grounds to make someone else pay their legal fees.

Similarly, Rowan County filed its own response that stated the county government should not be told to pay any of the fees because Davis was acting individually– in her public official capacity–and not on behalf of the county.

“County clerks are not employees of the county, but instead are the holders of elective office pursuant to the Kentucky Constitution,” wrote  Rowan County attorney Jeffrey C. Mando.

William Sharp, legal director of the Kentucky ACLU and one of the lawyers for the couple, said in a statement:

Courts recognize that when successful civil rights plaintiffs obtain a direct benefit from a court-ordered victory, such as in this case, they can be entitled to their legal expenses to deter future civil rights violations by government officials.

Additionally, if Davis and her legal team are forced to pay the bills, they won’t be able to use popular crowdfunding site GoFundMe, after it changed its policies to prevent fundraising for “campaigns in defense of formal charges or claims of heinous crimes, violent, hateful, sexual or discriminatory acts.”

Whatever Davis decides to do next, it will probably continue to stir up controversy that keeps her in the public’s eye.

Julia Bryant

Julia Bryant is an Editorial Senior Fellow at Law Street from Howard County, Maryland. She is a junior at the University of Maryland, College Park, pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Economics. You can contact Julia at JBryant@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Kim Davis, the clerk who has now gained national notoriety from her refusal to issue marriage licenses to anyone in Rowan County, Kentucky, is in quite a bit of trouble. After her refusal to do her job in the name of protesting the legalization of gay marriage, she was put in jail. But if Davis is looking for crowdsourced help to get her out of that trouble, and the possible fines she may face moving forward, she’s going to have some issues. One of the biggest crowd-funding sites–Go Fund Me–has updated its policies to make it impossible for her to set up a fundraiser.

GoFundMe’s New Policy Prevents Conservatives From Raising Cash For Kim Davis http://t.co/KYWrwX2YgF pic.twitter.com/Obhk1d28dK

— Lnonblonde (@Lnonblonde) September 4, 2015

Go Fund Me has traditionally been a tool for good. Many use it to raise money for those suffering from a debilitating illness or for some other worthy cause. But many Go Fund Me campaigns have also led to plenty of controversy. For example, fellow Law Streeter Taelor Bentley recently wrote an article on how Dylann Roof’s sister attempted to use Go Fund Me to raise money for her dream wedding.

But, that probably won’t be the case for Davis. When another controversial Go Fund Me made the news–a couple whose bakery was fined $135,000 for refusing to bake a cake for a gay couple–Go Fund Me cancelled it. The company then updated its policies. According to its terms and conditions, Go Fund Me will not allow “campaigns in defense of formal charges or claims of heinous crimes, violent, hateful, sexual or discriminatory acts.”

Go Fund Me has been consistent with this policy. When supporters tried to raise money for the legal fees of the police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray, a Go Fund Me spokeswoman elaborated on the policy to the Baltimore Sun, stating:

GoFundMe cannot be used to benefit those who are charged with serious violations of the law. The campaign clearly stated that the money raised would be used to assist the officers with their legal fees, which is a direct violation of GoFundMe’s terms. Specifically, ‘campaigns in defense of formal charges or claims of heinous crimes, violent, hateful, sexual or discriminatory acts’ are not permitted on GoFundMe.

So, Davis probably won’t be able to crowdsource her potential fines, as well as some most likely hefty legal fees, at least not by using Go Fund Me. That doesn’t mean she is without supporters. For example, there was a rally full of Davis supporters at the Carter County Detention Center earlier today. Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is also holding a rally in support of Davis. But, you probably won’t be seeing any invitations to “fund” her pop up anytime soon.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

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