Kim Davis, the Rowan County clerk who was jailed for refusing to give marriage licenses to couples, was ordered to be freed on Tuesday.
"I just want to give God the glory. His people have rallied and you are a strong people. We serve a living God who knows where each and every one of us is at. Just keep on pressing, don't let down, because He is here. He is worthy, He is worthy. I love you guys. Thank you so much," Davis said upon being greeted by supporters outside the Carter County Detention Center, in which she was jailed for five days.
U.S. District Judge David Bunning said he was satisfied that the county clerk office is "fulfilling its obligation to issue marriage licenses to all legally eligible couples," and added that 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."
Soon after Davis was sent to jail on Thursday, deputy clerks in the Rowan County clerk office began issuing marriage licenses. However, the licenses do not have Davis' name, and are instead authorized by the office of "Rowan County, Rowan County County Clerk."
The deputy clerks' issuance of the licenses came after Davis said in a statement that she would not allow them to do so under her authority.
Whether Davis will comply with Bunning's ruling that she shall not interfere with her deputies' continued issuance of the licenses is unclear.
Davis has been refusing to grant marriage licenses to all couples since the legalization of same-sex marriage nationwide in late June, asserting that granting such licenses with her name on it comes as a violation of her religious conscience. Since then, a lawsuit was filed against her on behalf of two same-sex and two opposite-sex couples, which ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. She continued to refuse to grant licenses however, causing Judge Bunning to have found her in contempt.
Other county clerks of other states have resigned since the June 26 same-sex marriage ruling, and others have also shown similar opposition to granting marriage licenses. However, Davis' case went the farthest in comparison to others, causing her opposition to have been at the center of the nation's attention in recent months.
