A federal judged ordered Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis be released from custody and her contempt order be lifted Tuesday, but her lawyers said the defiant clerk plans to continue blocking marriage licenses for gay couples when she returns to work.
Davis was ordered into federal custody Sept. 3 after repeatedly refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples, saying it would violate her religious beliefs, despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling against her.
A CNN journalist at the jail reported that according to her attorneys, Davis “has not changed her mind” and intends to bring the licensing process to a halt all over again when she’s back on the job.
“The problem here is that the attorney says she has not changed her mind, that Kim Davis is adamant that as long as her name appears on those marriage licenses, she objects and she will attempt to stop those licenses from being distributed,” CNN correspondent Martin Savidge said during a live broadcast.
In his release order, federal judge David Bunning ordered Davis not interfere in any way “with the efforts of her deputy clerks to issue marriage licenses to all legally eligible couples.” All of the Rowan County deputy clerks but one – Davis’ son – said last week they would issue licenses to LGBT couples, and the first couples received marriage licenses on Sept. 4.
Davis’ attorneys filed an emergency motion Monday to keep the clerk out of jail pending her appeal, and she also appealed the contempt ruling on Sunday.
GOP presidential candidates Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and former Gov. Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee were both on hand at the Carter County Detention Center, having planned to visit Davis in jail before news of her release.
I was honored to meet w/ #KimDavis. A woman of such strong faith and conviction. #ImWithKim #ReligiousLiberty pic.twitter.com/RhcaENaA6i
— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) September 8, 2015
Read Bunning’s full release order, embedded below via Grasswire:
