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McLennan County Justice of the Peace Dianne Hensley has waged a battle against the State Commission on Judicial Conduct after it issued a public warning against her for refusing to perform same-sex marriages. Sign up for The Brief , The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news. 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. The State Commission on Judicial Conduct gave Judge Dianne Hensley a public warning in 2019 for performing opposite-sex weddings for couples, but declining to perform same-sex wedding ceremonies on religious grounds — a move that casted doubt on her capacity to act impartially, according to the notice. Her refusal occurred in the wake of a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that required all states to license same-sex marriages. 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 […]