Kentucky clerk Kim Davis to be released from jail — on one condition

A federal judge is letting Kim Davis out of jail — less than a week after the Kentucky clerk was jailed for blocking her office from issuing marriage licenses.

The release order says Davis won’t be allowed to interfere with her office’s issuance of marriage licenses. Deputy clerks in the Rowan County clerk’s office have been issuing marriage licenses to opposite-sex and same-sex couples since Friday, a day after Davis was jailed.

Davis previously blocked her office from issuing marriage licenses after the Supreme Court’s decision legalizing same-sex marriages nationwide, citing “God’s authority” and her religious objections to marriage equality. But a federal court concluded that state law requires Davis to issue marriage licenses, ordering her office to do so. When Davis refused, US District Judge David Bunning put her in jail — supposedly until she agreed to let her office issue marriage licenses.

The court previously offered something similar to the release order as a compromise: Davis could be freed from jail as long as she didn’t stop her deputy clerks from giving out marriage licenses. It’s unclear whether Davis agreed to the compromise, but the court is now enforcing it in her release order — with a warning that Davis will be punished again if she doesn’t cooperate.

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