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 U.S. District Judge David Bunning ordered her release after six
days in jail, saying she "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."
The issue of same-sex marriage licenses in Kentucky and other states
has become the latest focal point in the long-running debate over
gay marriage in the United States.
The Supreme Court's decision in late June legalized it in all 50
states, but a small number of elected clerks and lower level judges
have voiced opposition on religious grounds. Some in Texas, Alabama
and elsewhere have refused to issue licenses to anyone, gay or
straight.
In Rowan County, Kentucky, where Davis is the clerk, five of her six
deputies issued licenses to several same sex-couples while she was
in jail.
If she interferes with the deputies, she will have violated the
order and could face sanctions, Bunning said.
 Hours after the judge's order, Davis climbed a podium in front of
the Carter County Detention Center with her husband Joe, Republican
presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and lawyer Mathew Staver.
As loud speakers blared the rock band Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger",
the music theme to the Rocky III boxing movie, they held their hands
up in triumph.
Greeted by roughly 4,000 singing and shouting supporters, an
emotional Davis thanked everyone and said: "I just want to give God
his glory."
Staver said Davis is considering what day this week to return to her
$80,000-a-year job, but that she has not changed her mind on issuing
licenses. That leaves open the question on whether Davis could be
brought back before Bunning.
"We likely could be because nothing has been remedied, nothing has
been solved by the situation," Staver told Reuters.
"She will do her job good and she will serve the people as they want
her to serve. She will also be loyal to God and she is not going to
violate her conscience," Staver, the founder of Christian religious
advocacy group Liberty Counsel, told the crowd.
He added that Davis would continue to ask for an accommodation to
remove her name and her authority from the marriage certificates.
Huckabee called her a "brave lady" for her willingness to go to jail
for what she believed.
Another Republican president hopeful, Ted Cruz, was seen entering
and leaving the detention center. Both candidates are running far
behind billionaire businessman Donald Trump in the early opinion
polls for the Republican nomination in the November 2016
presidential election.
"Well I saw where Mr. Huckabee was coming into town and I'm assuming
he is trying to generate some publicity because the last polls...
But I really don't think this is going to help him much in any way,"
Democratic Governor of Kentucky Steve Beshear told reporters after a
speech in Lexington.
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A significant majority of Americans, 59 percent, in a recent
Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll say government officials should issue
licenses regardless of their religious beliefs. The poll of 1,211
adults taken Sept. 5-8 showed 29.8 percent disagreed. It had a
credibility interval of 3.2 percentage points.
SETBACKS
Davis' case is a setback for religious conservatives who oppose
same-sex marriage.
State Representative David Hale, a Republican and Davis supporter
who attended the rally, said he will push for legislation to take
marriage licenses out of the hands of county clerks and move it to
the Office of Vital Statistics.
Not everyone in the crowd was a Davis supporter.
"I am only OK with it if she agrees to do her job," said Beth Baker
of Grayson.
As an Apostolic Christian, Davis says she believes a marriage can
only be between a man and a woman. She has refused to issue any
marriage licenses since the U.S. Supreme Court in June made same-sex
marriages legal across the United States.
Davis, who is nine days shy of her 50th birthday, was ordered into
custody by Bunning on Sept. 3 after continuing to defy his order to
issue the licenses.
Bunning secured the assurances of five of six deputy clerks who
stated under oath that they would comply with the court's orders and
issue licenses to all legally eligible couples.
The deputies will need to file status reports every 14 days to prove
they are in compliance, the order said.
Davis, a Democrat, was elected to her position in November 2014
after 27 years as deputy clerk of Rowan County. She took over the
office from her mother, who served for 37 years. Her son Nathan, a
deputy clerk, was the only one not to pledge compliance with the
judge's orders.
(Additional reporting by Jonathan Herskovitz in Austin, Texas; and
Maurice Tamman in New York; Writing by Daniel Bases; Editing by
Jeffrey Benkoe and Lisa Shumaker)
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