Kentucky Clerk Who Fought Gay Marriage Is Released From Jail

The county clerk who was jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples was released Tuesday after five days behind bars, emerging to a tumultuous welcome from hundreds of cross-waving supporters.

 

“All has been well,” said Kim Davis, standing next to both her lawyer and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. Asked whether it was worth it, she smiled and nodded yes.

 

At the same time, her lawyer refused to say whether she would defy the courts again.

 

“Kim cannot and will not violate her conscience,” said Mat Staver, founder of the Liberty Counsel, the Christian firm representing Davis. As for what happens next, he said only: “You’ll find out in the near future.”

 

The Rowan County clerk whose jailing helped make her a hero to the religious right walked free after the federal judge who ordered her locked up lifted the contempt order against her, saying he was satisfied that her deputies were fulfilling their obligation to grant licenses to same-sex couples in her absence.

 

But U.S. District Judge David Bunning also warned Davis not to interfere again.

 

As the news spread, a crowd of dozens of supporters who had gathered on the jailhouse lawn for what they called a rally for religious freedom swelled to hundreds. They broke into “Amazing Grace” and “God Bless America” and waved signs, flags and large white crosses.

 

The move came down just before Davis received jailhouse visits from both Huckabee and fellow Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz.

 

Davis was thrown in jail on Thursday for the boldest act of resistance by a public official yet to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that effectively legalized gay marriage across the nation.

 

Read More: Kentucky Clerk Who Fought Gay Marriage Is Released From Jail – ABC News