Mike Huckabee Likens Decision Jailing Kim Davis To Dred Scott Slavery Ruling

Opponents of same-sex marriage have an unwavering standard bearer in GOP hopeful Mike Huckabee. Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk of courts who was jailed this week after refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, has become a raison d’être for the Huckabee campaign over the course of recent weeks, and the presidential candidate seems to have few reservations in invoking some degree of hyperbole to align himself with the incarcerated public servant and her fellow travelers.

As reported by CNN, Mike Huckabee appeared on ABC’s This Week and discussed his opinions on the incarceration of Kim Davis, drawing a comparison to the Supreme Court’s notorious Dred Scott decision. In his comments, Huckabee appeared to indicate that laws should only be followed if they are “right.”

The case of Dred Scott v. Sanford, 60 U.S. 393 (1857), effectively codified the notion that slaves were “property” and not people, according to an informational article on History.com. Indeed, the ruling, largely considered as the moral nadir of Supreme Court credibility, decided that nobody with African ancestry could be a citizen of the United States, as noted in an article by the Huffington Post.

Huckabee’s reference to the case does not explicitly compare Kim Davis to Dred Scott, who was suing for his freedom in the aforementioned case, instead comparing Lincoln’s reaction to the decision to the actions of Kim Davis with regard to her opinions regarding same-sex marriage.

“You obey it if it’s right,” Huckabee said. “So I go back to my question. Is slavery the law of the land? Should it have been the law of the land because Dred Scott said so? Was that a correct decision? Should the courts have been irrevocably followed on that? Should Lincoln have been put in jail? Because he ignored it.”

Lincoln was not in office at the time of the Dred Scott decision, as his first term began on March 4, 1961, but that detail was not noted by Mike Huckabee. Kim Davis was a sitting official at the time that the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage.

Further championing Kim Davis, Mike Huckabee also suggested that the Supreme Court should not have the final say in a matter like same-sex marriage. He was not clear on how either branch can override the Supreme Court’s recent ruling and still work within the general framework of the Constitution, though.

“Do we have a check and balance system? Do we have three equal branches or do we have one supreme branch, not just the Supreme Court? That’s the fundamental question.”

Not everyone on the right side of America’s political spectrum agrees with Mike Huckabee’s assessment of the situation regarding Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis. The Huffington Post noted that staunch conservative George F. Will called for Kim Davis to resign during a weekend appearance on Fox News.

The above-noted This Week appearance is part of a full-court press for Mike Huckabee. Kim Davis is the subject of a petition on the candidate’s website and a forthcoming rally to be staged by Huckabee at the Carter County Detention Center in Grayson Kentucky on September 8.

[Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images]