MARRIAGE: Nuremberg trials not a precedent for Kim Davis

Re: “Kim Davis follows her conscience” (letter, 9-16).

The letter writer states the decision of the Nuremberg court sets a precedent for Kim Davis (Kentucky county clerk) to refuse a court order. The Nuremberg trials found the Nazis guilty, despite their attempt to use the defense that they were following their commanders’ orders when they sent people to their deaths in the gas chambers.

Davis was also found guilty - of not following an order from the U.S. Supreme Court to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

The writer believes the Nuremberg Tribunal decision set a precedent for Davis to refuse, based on her moral beliefs, to follow the law. The law she objects to may be against her morals, but it is not one that kills people, and so the comparison is way off base. The Nuremberg trials set precedent for dealing with genocide and crimes against humanity.

Davis, an elected official, took an oath of office. You can’t be an elected official and then decide when, or if, you will follow the law, which is what the job demands.

This story was originally published September 17, 2015 at 1:21 PM with the headline "MARRIAGE: Nuremberg trials not a precedent for Kim Davis."