Gary M. Wisenbaker, Valdosta Today Editorial Contributor
“John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it!”
President Andrew Jackson fumed at the Supreme Court’s 1832 decision recognizing the tribal sovereignty of the American Indians which barred Georgia’s attempt to control Cherokee land. Jackson, a states’ rights advocate, was not amused.
Rowan County (Kentucky) clerk Kim Davis recently resurrected Jackson’s sentiment after the Supreme Court’s disastrous same sex marriage ruling last June. Davis dared the Court to enforce its ruling when she refused to issue licenses to same sex couples; in fact, she ceased issuing all licenses.
Davis justified her action with her Christian belief that same sex unions are contrary to God’s divine order of marriage (they are). She was hauled into court and after a hearing the court entered an order commanding her to process licenses for both opposite and same sex applicants if they otherwise qualified.
Davis refused and took her stand. So did a federal judge. And she sat for six days in a jail cell on charges of contempt of court.
Judges take compliance with their orders rather seriously, you see.
The incident elucidates everything that is wrong with the judicial activist, redefinition of marriage Obergefell decision. Chiefly, it was unnecessary, secondly, poorly reasoned, and thirdly, left no cover or direction for those who share Davis’ beliefs.
And that’s a lot of people.
The Obergefell decision had the effect of dividing a house against itself. We’ve been there before with Roe v. Wade. By refusing to let the laboratories of democracy, the states, work through this socially divisive issue, the Court originated, processed and approved the current standoff.
Rather than working in tandem with the federal government, some state officials now find it necessary to oppose it. And the ugly specter of federal judges jailing state officials may well be replayed. The flood of private discrimination lawsuits, like the Oregon bakery atrocity, will continue unabated.
There is a difference, however, between a private person’s faith based action or inaction and that of a public official.
Davis’ services are required, not optional, in the Kentucky marital process. She is the chief county clerk and the only official authorized to issue marriage licenses. As the state requires a marriage license, this complicates the intersection of faith and law.
Elected state officials take an oath to uphold the laws of both their states and the United States. As wrongly reasoned and decided as Obergefell was, it is the law of the land. There is no “love it or leave it” option.
Davis came to the dance of elective office by her own volition; she must now dance to the tune of the oath she took.
The current conflict need not turn into a sideshow with carnival hawkers shrieking about “the criminalization of Christianity in our country.” After all, incarceration for disobeying a direct court order is quite different from being jailed solely on one’s holding a religious belief.
A jail cell, however, is hardly the place to resolve this crisis. There are options: take Davis’ name off all the licenses, let a deputy clerk who has no objection issue the license, or allow licenses to be obtained on line. If, however, Davis cannot or will not facilitate the execution of the law, then she should resign.
For those of the Christian faith, navigating this secular world is best accomplished by “rendering unto Caesar what is Caesar’s” and to be “in” this world but not “of” it. In short, there’s much unsavoriness in this world today and Christian teaching offers solid advice: keep your convictions and just deal with it.
That our democracy within a republic requires adherence to the rule of law for its orderly execution goes without question. The corollary calls for the administration of our laws in a firm, fair and consistent manner.
Now is not the time for martyrs, panderers and fiery rhetoric, but rather that the rule of law be respected and obeyed.
Gary Wisenbaker, B.A., J.D. is a native of South Georgia where he practiced law in Valdosta and Savannah for 31 years. He has served as state chairman of the Georgia Young Republicans and Chairman of the Chatham County (Savannah) Republican Party. Gary is a past GOP nominee for State Senate, past delegate to the Republican National Convention and has consulted on numerous local Republican campaigns as well as chaired or co-chaired campaigns for President and US Senate on the county and district level. He is the principal and founder of Blackstone, LLC, a corporate communications and public relations concern as well as Wiregrass Mediation Services, LLC, a general civil litigation mediation firm.
Gary hosts his own blog at www.garywisenbaker.com and recently published his first fictional work, “How Great is His Mercy: The Plea”, on Amazon.com. His opinions are regularly published on ValdostaToday.com and the Valdosta Daily Times.
