Texas supreme court to hear case from sanctioned judge who refused same-sex weddings
By Jacqueline Thomsen
June 23, 202310:42 PM GMT+2Updated 2 days ago
- Texas judge was publicly warned for refusing to hold weddings for same-sex couples
High court will hear lawsuit seeking block against future disciplinary action over same-sex weddings
(Reuters) - The Texas Supreme Court on Friday said it will hear arguments on whether to revive a state judge’s lawsuit against a judicial ethics panel that sanctioned her in 2019 over her refusal to officiate at same-sex marriage ceremonies.
Dianne Hensley, a Texas justice of the peace in Waco, in December 2019 sued the state's commission on judicial conduct after she was publicly warned by the panel for refusing to perform wedding ceremonies for same-sex couples. The commission said the sanction was for "casting doubt on her capacity to act impartially to persons appearing before her as a judge due to the person's sexual orientation."
Hensley said her “sincerely held religious belief as a Christian” prevented her from performing the weddings. She has stopped performing weddings entirely since the sanction was issued.
Hensley sued the commission in December 2019 but did not appeal the sanction. Her lawsuit seeks damages and an injunction blocking any future disciplinary action against her tied to refusing to perform same-sex weddings.
Douglas Lang, a lawyer for the judicial conduct commission, said in an email that the panel will raise to the high court "the importance of the commission’s work with Texas judges to assure all judges present themselves to the public according to the rule of law, independent of outside influences, including religion, and without regard to whether a law is popular or unpopular."
Justin Butterfield, a lawyer for Hensley, said in a statement that the judge "sought to follow her religious beliefs and accommodate everyone, yet the government chose to punish her. We look forward to the Texas Supreme Court correcting this injustice."
The judge’s legal team is led by conservative lawyer Jonathan Mitchell, an architect of anti-abortion legislative efforts in Texas. She is also being represented by attorneys with the conservative First Liberty Institute, which frequently litigates religious freedom cases.
Hensley’s lawyers told the Texas Supreme Court earlier this year that a state appeals court erred in upholding the dismissal of her lawsuit. “It may not be as fashionable to publicly disapprove same-sex marriage as it once was, but that is not a reason to question the impartiality of a judge who openly expresses a religious belief that marriage should exist only between one man and one woman,” the judge’s attorneys wrote.
Lawyers for the judicial conduct commission urged the justices not to take up the case, calling it a “collateral attack” against the disciplinary order. They asked the court to affirm the ruling dismissing the lawsuit on several grounds, including that she is barred from suing the commission, “lest the law of Texas be turned on its ear.”
https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindu ... 023-06-23/