Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct warns Hensley for declining to officiate at weddings for same-sex couples for violating Canon 4A(1) of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct.
Hensley said she had a "sincerely held religious belief as a Christian," and that is why she didn't perform same-sex marriages and she would refer them to other officials to perform the ceremony. Eventually, she stopped performing all marriages due to the Commission's threats/investigations.
Texas Supreme Court unanimously adopted this comment to Canon 4 of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct:
So Hensley is safe to perform opposite-sex marriages? Not so fast says the Commission.
Some commentary from Ed Whelan. I have a hard time believing they'd overturn Obergefell so soon with Gorsuch probably on the liberal side, but it'll funny if that's the result of this militant activism.
https://www.nationalreview.com/bench-memos/texas-commission-on-judicial-conducts-attack-on-religious-freedom/
Hensley said she had a "sincerely held religious belief as a Christian," and that is why she didn't perform same-sex marriages and she would refer them to other officials to perform the ceremony. Eventually, she stopped performing all marriages due to the Commission's threats/investigations.
Texas Supreme Court unanimously adopted this comment to Canon 4 of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct:
Quote:
It is not a violation of these canons for a judge to publicly refrain from performing a wedding ceremony based upon a sincerely held religious belief.
So Hensley is safe to perform opposite-sex marriages? Not so fast says the Commission.
Quote:
the commissioners have taken the astounding position that Canon 4A(1) continues to prohibit Judge Hensley from performing marriages for oppositesex couples while recusing herself from same-sex weddings on account of her Christian faith. According to the commissioners, the new comment to Canon 4 merely allows judges with religious objections to homosexuality to publicly refrain from performing all marriages, and provides no protection to judges who opt out of performing same-sex marriages while continuing to officiate weddings for opposite-sex couples. So Judge Hensley is facing the same threats of disciplinary action that she faced before the new comment to Canon 4, and she is unable to resume performing weddings for opposite-sex couples without exposing herself to investigation and retaliation from the commissioners.
Some commentary from Ed Whelan. I have a hard time believing they'd overturn Obergefell so soon with Gorsuch probably on the liberal side, but it'll funny if that's the result of this militant activism.
https://www.nationalreview.com/bench-memos/texas-commission-on-judicial-conducts-attack-on-religious-freedom/
Quote:
The complaint includes a back-up claim that calls for the overruling of Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 Supreme Court ruling that invented a federal constitutional right to same-sex marriage. The Obergefell ruling "emboldened activists and politicians to embark on a campaign of intimidation against individuals and institutions who dare to express the belief that marriage is between one man and one woman." Obergefell is fundamentally unsound and illegitimate, it is incompatible with the rationale of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Center (2022), and it has generated menacing attacks on religious freedom.
The complaint acknowledges that the Supreme Court has instructed the lower federal courts to follow its precedents, and it explicitly states that it includes this claim in order to "preserve" it for an eventual request to the Supreme Court. In the event that Judge Hensley does not prevail in the lower courts, this case will provide a more promising vehicle for the reconsideration of Obergefell than Kim Davis's recently denied certiorari petition did.