REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson (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. Advertisement · Scroll to continue 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. Advertisement · Scroll to continue Douglas Lang, a lawyer for the judicial conduct commission, said in an email that the panel will raise to the […]
