Defiant Clerk Released From Custody, Vows to Violate Court Order
The Kentucky clerk protesting marriage equality by refusing to issue marriage licenses pledged to continue to ignore court orders and block marriage licenses in the county.
Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, who opposes same-sex marriage, won a conditional release from jail Tuesday as U.S. District Judge David Bunning issued an order releasing Davis from custody so long as she “not interfere in any way, directly or indirectly, with the efforts of her deputy clerks to issue marriage licenses to all legally eligible couples.”
Davis had been arrested and held in jail for contempt of court last week after defying multiple court orders to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Davis, who opposes marriage equality on religious grounds, had refused to issue marriage licenses to anyone in Rowan County, Kentucky, in an effort to deny same-sex couples their constitutional right to marry.
In response, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in federal court against Davis on behalf of a group of plaintiffs—two same-sex and two opposite-sex couples—arguing that Davis’ policy interfered with the plaintiffs’ right to marry because it prevented them from obtaining a license in their home county. The district court agreed with the plaintiffs and rejected Davis’ claims that requiring her to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples was a violation of her right to religious freedom under Kentucky’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act and her right to free speech under the First Amendment.
Davis has reportedly vowed to violate court orders and force her clerks to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples upon her release. If Davis violates Tuesday’s order, she will again be held in contempt of court.
Both the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court upheld that ruling and ordered Davis to begin issuing marriage licenses. She continued to refuse, prompting the contempt hearing and Davis’ eventual jailing.
Bunning, during last week’s contempt hearing, offered Davis the opportunity to avoid jail if she would allow her deputies to issue marriage licenses. Davis refused, but on Friday deputies in the Rowan County Clerk’s office began issuing the licenses anyway.
News of Davis’ release came just ahead of jailhouse visits planned by two Republican presidential candidates, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, as well as a rally opposing same-sex marriage and in support of Davis.
Tuesday’s order requires lawyers for the deputies issuing marriage orders to file a “status report” every 14 days to confirm they are complying with the court’s order and issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.