An ongoing situation in Texas has put these in conflict.
There have been many such cases nationally.
- Click here for the case documents.
- Click here for video of the hearing before the Texas Supreme Court.
For media coverage:
- Texas judge’s refusal to marry gay couples goes before state supreme court.
Texas Supreme Court justices Wednesday questioned whether a Waco justice of the peace should remain under threat of a judicial oversight body’s sanctions if she continues refusing to marry gay couples.
Hensley serves as a justice of the peace in McLennan County, an elected official whose role includes hearing traffic and misdemeanor cases; presiding over landlord and tenant disputes; and, among other duties, can include conducting weddings.
Following the 2019 warning, Hensley filed a lawsuit alleging that the judicial commission violated her rights under the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The 1999 act was designed to ensure the government cannot “substantially burden” free exercise of religious beliefs.
The state’s highest civil court heard oral arguments Wednesday after an appeals court affirmed a lower court’s decision to toss her legal challenge last year on grounds that the commission acted within its powers and is protected from lawsuits due to sovereign immunity.
The case is believed to be among several that will attempt to expand the reach of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that let a Colorado web designer refuse same-sex couples. However, most of Wednesday’s proceedings revolved around what Hensley had already done and what could happen to her in the future.
Waco judge sues state agency after receiving public warning for refusing to officiate same-sex marriages.
A Waco judge who received a public warning last month for refusing to officiate same-sex marriages filed a lawsuit against the state agency that issued the warning, claiming the governmental body violated state law by punishing her for actions taken in accordance with her faith.
The First Liberty Institute, a high-profile Plano-based religious liberty law firm closely aligned with the Texas Attorney General’s Office, will represent the judge, Dianne Hensley, in the lawsuit filed Tuesday in McLennan County District Court.
Shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court asserted the constitutional right for same-sex couples to marry in the landmark 2015 Obergefell decision, Hensley refused to officiate any weddings. But in August 2016, she decided to resume officiating weddings between men and women, and said she would “politely refer” same-sex couples who sought her services to others in the area.
“For providing a solution to meet a need in my community while remaining faithful to my religious beliefs, I received a ‘Public Warning.’ No one should be punished for that,” Hensley said in a statement.
Hensley, who claims the state violated the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act, is seeking a declaratory judgment from the court decreeing that any justice of the peace may refuse to officiate a same-sex wedding “if the commands of their religious faith forbid them to participate in same-sex marriage ceremonies.”
The public warning issued by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct Nov. 12 did not carry a fine. But Hensley claims the investigation and warning “substantially burdened the free exercise of her religion, with no compelling justification.” She seeks damages of $10,000.
Her attorney on the case, Jonathan Mitchell, is a former solicitor general of Texas.
For more:
- State Religious Freedom Restoration Acts.
- Click here for the relevant law in Texas.
- TLO: SB 138 - 76(R).
