Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis Jailed for Not Issuing Marriage Licenses

Kim Davis, a county clerk in Kentucky who has refused to issue marriage licenses in an effort to protest the legalization of same-sex marriage, was thrown in jail for contempt on Thursday, The Associated Press reports.

Davis, a clerk in Rowan County, Ky., says her defiance is rooted in her own religious beliefs. "God's moral law conflicts with my job duties," she told a federal judge, who subsequently handed her over to U.S. Marshals, according to the AP.

Judge David Bunning said that Davis' faith "is simply not a viable defense," adding that she had taken an oath to perform her job.

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Bunning told Davis' five deputies, one of whom is her son, that they may issue licenses against her authority in her absence, and will be subject to fines or jail times if they refuse to do so.

Davis, a born-again Christian who has been married four times herself, stopped issuing marriage licenses to all couples in June, after the Supreme Court made same-sex marriage the law of the land nationwide. She was elected to office as a Democrat last November, and can only be removed by impeachment, according to the AP.