U.S. District Court Judge David Bunning issued an order Tuesday afternoon freeing Rowan County, Kentucky clerk Kim Davis from custody, but he did so with a very stern warning to her: Do not with the issuance of marriage licenses in your office.
Judge Bunning agreed that the Rowan County Clerk’s Office was fulfilling its obligation to issue marriage licenses and ordered the county clerk released from jail. She had been held since last Thursday when the judge found her in contempt of court.
Five of the six deputies in Davis’ office have been issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples after Davis was jailed, and Bunning has also ordered them to continue doing so and provide status reports to the court every two weeks.
But will Davis’ freedom only be temporary? Statements from her attorneys would seem to suggest so.
CNN correspondent Martin Savidge, who was at the jail where Davis had been held, reported that following the release order, her attorney, Harry Mihet, said that the judge had ordered the release because her office had satisfied the court by issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples while she was behind bars. But Savidge added:
“The problem here is that the attorney says she has not changed her mind, that Kim Davis is adamant that as long as her name appears on those marriage licenses, she objects and she will attempt to stop those licenses from being distributed. Which means if she goes back on the job as is expected, she will bring the process to a halt. That’s what her attorneys believe. They have said they expect her to go by her conscience which means we may go through this all again.”
One wonders if Judge Bunning will be as accommodating to Davis should she appear in his courtroom a second time while in direct violation of his warning to her.
Watch the CNN Report
