Defiant Kentucky Clerk Ordered Released From Jail

On Tuesday, district judge David Bunning ordered that Kentucky clerk Kim Davis be released from police custody immediately, on the condition that she no longer refrain from issuing same-sex couples marriage licenses. The official order reads: "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." It goes on to warn Davis that if she breaks the terms of this order in any capacity, "appropriate sanctions will be considered." Davis has been in jail for five days.

David had demanded that the court immediately free her, and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has traveled to Kentucky to personally plead on behalf of what Huckabee and Davis argue are her religious freedoms. Having refused to sign marriage licenses for same-sex couples, noting that she didn't want to consent to the marriage or her signature on the documents, Davis had been ordered earlier in August to do so. When she refused, she was jailed for contempt.