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Attorneys For Jailed Kentucky Clerk Ask For Emergency Release

The Carter County Detention Center's mug shot of Kim Davis was taken Thursday. The Rowan County, Ky., clerk was jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses in protest of the Supreme Court decision to legalize gay marriage.
AP
The Carter County Detention Center's mug shot of Kim Davis was taken Thursday. The Rowan County, Ky., clerk was jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses in protest of the Supreme Court decision to legalize gay marriage.

Attorneys for Rowan County, Ky., clerk Kim Davis have filed an emergency motion with a federal court asking that Davis be immediately released from jail. The motion also reportedly requests that Davis be exempted from issuing marriage licenses.

U.S. District Judge David Bunning found Davis in contempt of court and ordered her jailed Thursday for refusing to issue marriage licenses; Davis has been protesting the legalization of same-sex marriage on religious grounds.

We reported on Davis' lawyers filing the appeal on Sunday. But NBC News says they are now pulling a "parallel maneuver" involving Kentucky Gov. Steven Beshear.

"They asked the appeals court to set Davis free while they fight Beshear for bureaucratic changes that would accommodate her religious opposition.

"Davis already has sued Beshear on the issue. Monday's motion asks the panel to allow Davis to leave jail while the case moves through the courts."

Legal documents obtained by CNN offer the option of allowing Davis to return to work but have her name removed from the marriage licenses and allow one of the deputy clerks in her office to issue the licenses. The documents say Davis cannot do it herself because it "irreparably and irreversibly violates her conscience."

The day after Davis was jailed, deputy clerk Brian Mason issued a marriage license to James Yates and William Smith, who had tried five times with Davis. NPR's Eyder Peralta was at the Rowan County courthouse in Morehead to see Mason hand over the license.

"Mason was all business. He checked their licenses, asked them if they were related, took their $35 and, in about five minutes, handed them an envelope and said, 'Congratulations.'

"Yates and Smith had become the first same-sex couple to receive a marriage license from Rowan County.

"They exited to chants of 'Love has won. Love has won.' "

Eyder also reported that the legality of the licenses handed out in Davis' absence are being questioned because they don't bear her signature.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Lauren Hodges is an associate producer for All Things Considered. She joined the show in 2018 after seven years in the NPR newsroom as a producer and editor. She doesn't mind that you used her pens, she just likes them a certain way and asks that you put them back the way you found them, thanks. Despite years working on interviews with notable politicians, public figures, and celebrities for NPR, Hodges completely lost her cool when she heard RuPaul's voice and was told to sit quietly in a corner during the rest of the interview. She promises to do better next time.