Case: 0:15-cv-00044-DLB Doc #: 171 Filed: 04/19/16 Page: 1 of 3 - Page ID#: 2680

Nos. 15-5880/5961/5978
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT

APRIL MILLER, et al.,

Plaintiffs-Appellees,
v.

KIM DAVIS, in her individual and official capacity

as Rowan County Clerk,
Defendant/Third Party Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.

MATTHEW G. BEVIN, in his official capacity as

Governor of Kentucky.; WAYNE ONKST, in his
official capacity as State Librarian and
Commissioner, Kentucky Department of Libraries
and Archives,

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Apr 19, 2016

ORDER

Third Party Defendants-Appellees.

Before: CLAY, GIBBONS, and STRANCH, Circuit Judges.

The Third-Party Defendants-Appellees

move to dismiss as moot

Case No. 15-5961, which is an appeal by Third-Party Plaintiff-Appellant Kim Davis from an
order delaying consideration of her motion for a preliminary injunction against them. The State
Defendants also move to be dismissed as parties in the two other consolidated appeals (Case
Nos. 15-5880 and 5978). They seek an expedited ruling on their motion.
These consolidated, interlocutory appeals are from Plaintiffs-Appellees action brought
against Davis, the Rowan County Clerk, challenging her policy of not issuing marriage licenses

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Nos. 15-5880/5961/5978
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based on her personal religious belief that marriage must be the union of one man and one
woman.

Davis filed a third-party complaint against the State Defendants, alleging that

Kentucky

of requiring county clerks to issue marriage licenses on Forms bearing their

names violated her right to the free exercise of her religion, her right of free speech, and was an
unlawful religious test for holding office. Davis moved for a preliminary injunction against the
State Defendants, but the district court held the motion in abeyance pending this Cour
of Plaintiffs-Appellees preliminary injunction against Davis.
The State Defendants previously moved to dismiss Case No. 15-5961 for lack of
jurisdiction. We denied that motion without prejudice, concluding that whether Davis suffers
any serious or irreparable consequences from the delay in addressing her preliminary injunction
motion is intertwined with the merits of her claim that the State Defendants are required to make
a reasonable accommodation for her sincerely-held religious beliefs. See Carson v. Am. Brands,
Inc., 450 U.S. 79, 84 (1981) (holding that an order that has the practical effect of an injunction
may be immediately appealable if it has serious or irreparable consequences).
On December 22, 2015, the newly-elected Governor of Kentucky issued an executive
license form to eliminate the need for the name and signature
of
permit Davis and t
license
form renders

or a

preliminary injunction against them. See Bench Billboard Co. v. City of Cincinnati, 675 F.3d
974, 981 82 (6th Cir. 2012); Kentucky Right to Life, Inc. v. Terry, 108 F.3d 637, 639, 644 (6th
Cir. 1997). In addition, the revision of the official marriage license form eliminates any claim by

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Nos. 15-5880/5961/5978
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Davis that she is suffering any serious or irreparable consequences as the result of the district
order. In response to the State Defendants motion to dismiss, Davis states that the
executive action orders evidently provides Davis the accommodation which Davis sought . . . as
preliminary injunctive relief.

Without a demonstration of serious or irreparable consequences,

Carson does not support appellate jurisdiction in Case No. 15-5961.

Finally, we note that the issues involved in Case Nos. 15-5880 and 5978 do not involve
any claims against the State Defendants.
is GRANTED, and Case No. 15-5961 is dismissed for
lack of jurisdiction. The clerk is directed to remove the State Defendants as appellees in Case
Nos. 15-5880 and 5978.
ENTERED BY ORDER OF THE COURT

Deborah S. Hunt, Clerk