Kim Davis is back at her job as Rowan County Clerk, after being jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in defiance of a court order.
She remains at least cautiously defiant.
Davis denies she is a hero and says she understands why her employees agreed to issue licenses to same-sex couples. “I understand their tough choice, and I will take no action against them. However, any unauthorized license that they issue will not have my name, my title or my authority on it. Instead, the license will state that they are issued pursuant to a federal court order,” she said speaking from a handwritten note and surrounded by Sheriff’s deputies this morning.
Standing with her son Nathan, who also refused to issue licenses, Davis said the licenses issued in her absence were issued without her authorization and she remains adamant she will not issue any, though she will not stop her deputies from issuing them. The licenses issued by her deputies do not contain her name but rather the name of Rowan County.
Her attorney Matthew Staver of the public interest law firm Liberty Counsel questioned the validity of the licenses issued without her signature since Kentucky law gives the sole authority to issue marriage licenses to the 120 county clerks of that state.
The Kentucky legislature convenes in January and will no doubt have to deal with a possible accommodation for Kim Davis and other state officials who may object to same-sex marriage. North Carolina has given such an accommodation.
Follow Austin Ruse on Twitter @austinruse