A judge rejected the American Civil Liberties Union's (ACLU) attempt to retrieve over $230,000 from Kim Davis, a county clerk, over a license legal battle. In November 2016, the ACLU sued Davis for her refusal to provide marriage licenses to same-sex couples as long as her name was on the legal papers. 

According to U.S. Magistrate Judge Edward Atkins' statement, the complainant — ACLU — was not entitled to an attorney's fee award as they were not considered the prevailing party in the case. 

The judge explained that legislative developments ended the legal issue in favor of Davis. Thus, the ACLU — and by extension the homosexual couples they represented in court — cannot be considered the winners of the case.

"[U]pon the enactment of Kentucky Senate Bill 216, which removed the name of the county clerk from marriage license forms, all claims asserted in this action, including the pending appeals, were dismissed as moot, and the preliminary injunction, vacated," Atkins wrote.

Atkins stated that the state's voluntary conduct of revising the marriage license forms to exclude the county clerk signature requirement "does not signal that the plaintiffs prevailed in the action." Thus, the ACLU is not entitled to an award of attorney's fee.

Davis' lawyers agreed with the court decision to reject the ACLU's demands since the county clerk was the one who won the case in the end.

"The ACLU is not entitled to attorney's fees according to the prevailing standard in the Sixth Circuit," Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, stated. "Kim Davis won the case and the case is closed. County clerks are now able to perform their public service without being forced to compromise their religious liberty."