Well, it finally happened. The offices of Rowan County, Kentucky have Kim Davis back at work. Now, there are changes on the marriage licenses.  First and foremost, the Rowan County Clerk’s office is not present on the certificates; instead, it is the city of Morehead. Secondly, and probably less surprising, Davis’s name isn’t on the certificates either.

For those of you who are unaware, Kim Davis is a county clerk who rocketed into the national spotlight over the summer for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, following June’s decisive ruling by the Supreme Court that legalized same-sex marriage across the country. Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear ordered clerks across Kentucky to comply and issue these licenses. Davis refused to issue a marriage license on June 29^th, citing her religious beliefs. Following lengthy court battles over the summer, she was ordered by a district judge to issue licenses, and was refused stays on the ruling by both the state and supreme courts. And yet, she still refused to issue the licenses. Finally, she was found in contempt of court on September 1^st, and subsequently jailed.

Recently, she was released on the grounds that her deputies would issue the licenses in her stead. When she walked out of jail, she was greeted by throngs of rabid supporters, including Republican Presidential candidates Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz. To me, it looked like the reception a rock star would receive. She got on stage and gave a tearful speech about how grateful she was for them, and that she was convinced that they were in the right. Further, she stated that she would stand fast and refuse to issue the licenses.

It was highly unnerving to see that throngs of people packed together to support a woman who violated people’s civil liberties as citizens of the United States of America. It’s appalling, seeing how she could go out and deny people their basic rights. The Supreme Court is the final say in this country, and that word is law.

Another spin on this is how she just utterly failed to do her job. She is a county clerk, someone who, by job description, is supposed to hand out marriage licenses. If you’re not prepared to do your job, you shouldn’t be in that position. Period. While I can understand being strong in a belief, it’s not a valid excuse for you to refuse to do your job.

But now, it seems as if she is beginning to grasp the gravity of the situation. She still says that she refuses to issue the licenses, and, technically, she is staying true to her word. Since she neither signs the licenses nor has her name or the counties’ on them, she is correct in this. So far, she has done nothing to undermine her colleagues in the performance of their duties. I think that she understands the position she is in, and also that she doesn’t want to involve her deputies. The removal of her name is a small victory for her but I believe that the actions she took were unwarranted and disappointing. While this has smoothed over for now, it wouldn’t shock me in the near future if she pops up in the news again. Whether it’s for an apology, or to stand fast and refuse to issue the licenses again, you can bet that it will be watched by the nation closely.