Kentucky clerk Kim Davis returns to work, refuses to authorize marriage licenses

After spending five days in jail for refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses, Rowan County clerk Kim Davis was released on September 8 and returns to work Monday morning. Despite being ordered to issue licenses to all couples seeking them, Davis said she will not personally issue or authorize any licenses, though she will not interfere with any deputy clerk who does.

"If any of them feels that they must issue an unauthorized license to avoid being thrown in jail, I understand their tough choice and I will take no action against them," she said in a statement outside the courthouse.

Licenses will instead state that they are "issued pursuant to a federal court order." Davis said she believes these conditions reconcile her conscience with the federal injunction ordering her to provide forms.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

"I don't want to have this conflict. I don't want to be in the spotlight. And I certainly don't want to be a whipping post," Davis said. "I am no hero. I'm just a person who has been transformed by the grace of God."