MOREHEAD, Ky. — A county clerk in Kentucky has again refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples, invoking her religious beliefs and “God’s authority” — this time in defiance of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling against her.

On Tuesday morning, Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis’ office denied the licenses to several couples. At first, Davis was in her office with the door closed and blinds drawn, and her staff said she wouldn’t be available. But Davis emerged a few minutes later, telling the couples and the activists gathered there that her office is continuing to deny the licenses “under God’s authority.”

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to intervene in the case, leaving Davis no legal grounds to refuse to grant the licenses. A district judge could now hold her in contempt of court, which can carry steep fines or jail time.

But lawyers for the two gay couples who originally sued in the case said in a motion Tuesday that they want Davis punished with only financial penalties — no jail time.

The motion says that the couples “regrettably” seek to hold the clerk in contempt but “do not seek to compel Davis’ compliance through incarceration.”