Donald and Evelyn Knapp, two Christian ministers who have owned and operated the Hitching Post Wedding Chapel in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, for 25 years, now face arrest and possible jail time for refusing to perform same-sex weddings, Fox News' Todd Starnes reported Saturday. According to Starnes, the two were told by the city they must either perform the ceremonies or face up to 180 days in jail and $1,000 per day in fines.
"Worse," said a lawsuit filed Friday by the Alliance Defending Freedom, "each day the Knapps decline to perform a requested same-sex wedding ceremony, they commit a separate and distinct misdemeanor, subject to the same penalties." If the two refuse to perform ceremonies in just one week, they could accrue up to three years in jail and $7,000 in fines, the complaint adds.
“Right now they are at risk of being prosecuted,” attorney Jeremy Tedesco told Starnes. “The threat of enforcement is more than just credible.”
For some time, the complaint says, the city of Coeur d'Alene has publicly and privately threatened the couple if gay marriage ever became legal in the state. Earlier in October, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals invalidated Idaho's marriage laws, making gay marriage legal in the state. Because the chapel is registered as a “religious corporation” that performs “one-man-one-woman marriages as defined by the Holy Bible” instead of a church, the ruling applies. Additionally, city officials say the chapel is a for-profit business meaning the owners must comply with local non-discrimination ordinances.
http://www.examiner.com/article/idaho-ministers-face-arrest-jail-for-refusing-to-perform-same-sex-weddings
