An eastern Kentucky judge on Monday issued an order denying the ACLU’s request that Rowan County and its clerk Kim Davis reimburse the civil-liberties organization for its legal fees associated with cases against her. Davis infamously refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses in her county after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of gay marriage, leading to her spending five days in jail, and the state of Kentucky changing its marriage licenses to no longer include the names of county clerks. All remaining suits against Davis were dropped as a result of the changes, and the ACLU then sued to recover the $233,000 in legal fees associated with those cases. U.S. Magistrate Judge Edward Atkins denied the ACLU’s demand: “[T]he plaintiffs are not ‘prevailing parties’... and are therefore not entitled to an award of attorneys’ fees.”
