Kim Davis released from jail, still doesn't want to issue marriage licenses

Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who was held in contempt of court after refusing to follow an order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, will be released from jail.

U.S. District Judge David Bunning wrote Tuesday that he was satisfied that the five deputies issuing marriage licenses to all eligible couples were upholding the law in accordance with Obergefell v. Hodges, and ordered Davis released on the condition that she doesn’t try to “interfere with the efforts of her deputy clerks.”

Davis’ jailing became a rallying cry among several Republican presidential candidates, notably Ted Cruz and Mike Huckabee, who claimed that the clerk’s court sanction was a sign of the criminalization of Christianity. Both candidates are scheduled to meet with Davis on Tuesday, though it seems they will no longer get a jailhouse photo op.

Davis, who is very much committed to not doing her job even after this mess, has indicated that she has no plans to resign. And, according to CNN correspondent Martin Savidge, her lawyers have said she may “attempt to stop those [marriage] licenses from being distributed” once she returns to the job.

“Kim Davis is adamant that as long as her name appears on those licenses, she objects and she will attempt to stop those licenses from being distributed,” Savidge reported. “Which means, if she goes back on the job as expected, she will bring the process to a halt. That is what her attorneys believe. They said they expect her to follow her conscience, which means we may go through this again.”