Majority of Americans Support Jailing of Kim Davis, Say She Should Do Her Job or Quit

By C Barnett --
18 Sep 2015 --

Kim Davis should be jailed and forced to issue gay marriage licenses poll says.

ABC News together with the Washington Post commissioned a survey of 1,003 adults across the country to assess the public’s view on the Kim Davis issue. The final results suggest that majority of Americans want Kim Davis to be compelled by the authorities to issue marriage licenses to LGBT couples.

Americans also wanted to see Davis temporarily sent to jail for failure to comply with her obligation and for defiance of court orders. When asked about the conflicting nature between the law and religious beliefs, the majority of the respondents said that legal equality should prevail over religion when the two are in conflict.

63% of the poll respondents said that Kim Davis should be compelled to issue gay marriage licenses even if it means going against her religious beliefs. On the other hand, only 33% backed her argument insisting the idea of religious freedom.

Opinion poll: is it worse when @FoxNews compares Obama to Hitler or Kim Davis to MLK Jr.?? #smh #ridiculous
— Allie O'Brien (@doinithealliway) September 9, 2015

Because of consistently defying federal court orders to issue the licenses, Davis was arrested and jailed for a week for contempt of court. The poll also asked Americans whether jailing the County clerk is appropriate. 72% of the surveyed individuals agreed that she should be jailed while 25% answered otherwise.

The issue of Kim Davis is just one of the cases that reflect the long standing conflict between the law/state affairs and religion. Based on the survey, 74% of Americans believe that when the two are in conflict, equality under the law is more superior to religious beliefs. In the case of Davis, the legal right of the LGBT couples should be acknowledged more than the clerk’s personal beliefs. Only 19% of the respondents said that religion should be the priority.

The study also tried to determine the opinion across groups. And as expected, the bulk of the support for Kim Davis comes from the far right Christian and other conservative groups. 61% percent of the Evangelical white Protestant respondents and 66% of the conservatives back Davis. Those wanting to see the clerk do her job and be penalized by a jail term include the Democrats, liberals and the atheists or unaffiliated.

After spending six days in jail for disobeying the courts, Kim Davis was eventually released and allowed back to work. She also maintained her decision not to issue marriage licenses to LGBT couples although she clarified that she won’t interfere with deputies that do the job.

In an interview, Davis defended her actions and explained that she never dreamed of being in the hot seat. According to Davis “God’s moral law conflicts with my duties. You can’t be separated from something that’s in your heart and your soul. I don’t want to be in the spotlight. And I certainly don’t want to be a whipping post. I am no hero. I’m just a person that’s been transformed by the grace of God, who wants to work, be with my family. I just want to serve my neighbors quietly without violating my conscience.”