[JURIST] Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses due to personal beliefs, was released [order, PDF] from jail on Tuesday. District Judge David Bunning of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky [official website] said that licenses were now being issued according to the recent US Supreme Court [official website] decision in Obergefell v. Hodges [opinion, PDF] legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide and that Davis would no longer interfere with their issuance. Last week Bunning had held Davis in contempt of court [JURIST report] for her continued refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The ruling by Bunning came after the American Civil Liberties Union filed a motion to hold her in contempt [press release] earlier last week.

Introductions of religious exemption bills and refusals to issue licenses have been occurring around the country. In July a federal judge ordered [JURIST report] all Louisiana officials to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Earlier that month a judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of Alabama issued an order [JURIST report] that all Alabama counties must abide by the Supreme Court ruling allowing same-sex marriage. In June the North Carolina House of Representatives passed a law that would allow some court officials to refuse to perform same-sex marriages based on their religious beliefs, overriding a veto [JURIST reports] by Governor Pat McCroy. In May Louisiana legislatures rejected a religious objections bill [JURIST report] that was pushed by Governor Bobby Jindal. A House legal committee voted 10-2 [AP report] to kill the bill, ending weeks of serious debate. However, in an effort to solicit Christian conservatives for his likely presidential bid in 2016, Jindal immediately responded by issuing an executive order aimed at doing essentially the same thing as the bill, just on a smaller scale.