LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Kim Davis, the Rowan County, Kentucky clerk who was jailed after she defied the Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex marriage, has been ordered released.
A court order issued Tuesday says, “Defendant Davis shall be released from the custody of the U.S. Marshal forthwith. Defendant Davis shall not interfere in any way, directly or indirectly, with the efforts of her deputy clerks to issue marriage licenses to all legally eligible couples. If Defendant Davis should interfere in any way with their issuance, that will be considered a violation of this Order and appropriate sanctions will be considered.”
Davis was ordered jailed by a federal judge last week on a contempt charge after defying several court orders. Her lawyers spent Labor day weekend filing appeals in an effort to force her release.
Davis stopped issuing all marriage licenses in June, the day after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. Two gay couples and two straight couples sued her. U.S. District Judge David Bunning ordered Davis to issue the licenses, and the Supreme Court upheld his ruling.
But Davis still refused to do it, saying she could not betray her conscience or God. Bunning ruled Thursday that Davis was in contempt of court and sent her to jail. Her deputy clerks – except for her son, Nathan Davis – then issued marriage licenses to gay couples Friday with Davis behind bars.
Davis, an apostolic Christian, says gay marriage is a sin. She also says it would be a sin for her to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple because the licenses are issued under her authority. She tried in vain to have state lawmakers change the law as a legal challenge to Kentucky’s same-sex marriage ban wound its way through the federal appeals court.
