Texas Judge Can Refuse to Marry Same-Sex Couples, Court Says (1)
A Texas judge can refuse to marry same-sex couples because of her religious beliefs, a state court ruled, a groundbreaking decision in a more than five-year-old case testing the limits of religious freedom protections for judges who are otherwise to remain impartial.
Judge Dianne Hensley of Waco, Texas, had her religious rights violated when a state commission issued a public warning in 2019 that stopped her from marrying only opposite-sex couples, Judge Maria Cantú Hexsel of the state’s 53rd District Court wrote in an order Thursday.
Hexsel rejected the commission’s bid to present the case to a jury, finding no “genuine issue” as to whether Hensley’s refusal to marry same-sex couples was motivated by her religious beliefs.
Hensley, a Catholic, drew a public warning from the State Commission on Judicial Conduct after she told a reporter she wouldn’t marry same-sex couples. Hensley made the comments following a US Supreme Court decision that guaranteed marriage rights to same-sex couples nationwide in 2015. The commission said her system of referring same-sex couples to other wedding officiants is problematic for a judge because it expresses partiality against certain people.
Hensley, who stopped performing all marriages, said she lost about $60,000 in lost income. Hexsel’s order entitles her to $10,000 in damages, the maximum amount permitted under the state’s religious freedom act.
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/texas-judge-can-refuse-to-marry-same-sex-couples-court-says
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