RELEASED: Judge Frees Kentucky Clerk Jailed For Refusing To Issue Gay Marriage Licenses
The Kentucky clerk who has been jailed for almost a week for refusing to issue gay marriage licenses is set to be released.
U.S. District Judge David Bunning removed his contempt ruling Tuesday and told the clerk, Kim Davis, that she must not interfere with the issuing of gay marriage licenses, The Associated Press reports.
Once the clerk was jailed, her staff began issuing the licenses without her.
Davis has refused to issue the licenses because of her religious faith, but there’s no word yet on what she will do upon her release.
She stopped issuing marriage licenses, gay or straight, after the Supreme Court ruling earlier this year recognizing same-sex marriage. Several couples who were denied marriage licenses partnered with the ACLU and sought the charges.
Davis tried to get the Supreme Court to intervene on her behalf, but they declined.
She cannot be fired because she is an elected official. Her defenders have pointed out that Kentucky’s state law has not been updated to allow for same-sex marriages.
“To issue a marriage license which conflicts with God’s definition of marriage, with my name affixed to the certificate, would violate my conscience,” Davis said in a statement last week. “It is not a light issue for me. It is a heaven or hell decision.”
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