Kim Davis released, but judge bars her from withholding marriage licenses

From CNN:

A Kentucky clerk who was jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples was freed Tuesday, but the judge who issued the order also attached a caveat she may not be willing to accept.

U.S. District Judge David Bunning ordered that Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis be released from jail Tuesday -- five days after he sent her there -- saying he was satisfied that her deputies fulfilled their obligations to give marriage licenses to same-sex couples in her absence.

But Bunning's new order says Davis, once free, still cannot interfere with her deputies issuing marriage licenses to all legally eligible couples.

More here.

What I have learned from the Kim Davis affair in Kentucky: apparently, the first amendment's guarantees of religious freedom include the right to violate the first amendment if you have the power to do so. I still don't quite understand the reasoning for this, but assume it's like one of those weird, arcane baseball rules nobody knows or understands unless they're a big baseball nerd.

I will think further about this. If you need me, I'll be in my lab.

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