Texas judge won't drop lawsuit after commission rescinds LGBTQ rights warning
A Texas judge said she will not drop her lawsuit against a state commission that publicly sanctioned her for refusing to officiate at same-sex weddings.
A Texas judge said she will not drop her lawsuit against a state commission that publicly sanctioned her for refusing to officiate at same-sex weddings, even though the commission withdrew its ethics warning last month.
Judge Dianne Hensley, an elected Texas justice of the peace who hears small claims and misdemeanor cases, said in a filing in an appeals court in Austin last week that the about-face by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct does not undermine her case.
Hensley is suing the commission for allegedly violating her religious rights as a Christian. The lawsuit seeks an order barring future sanctions, but does not ask the court to overturn the public warning. The Texas Supreme Court in June revived Hensley’s lawsuit.
The judicial commission’s Sept. 9 statement withdrawing its warning “does not acknowledge that judges and justices of the peace in Texas may lawfully choose to officiate only at opposite-sex weddings without fear of discipline,” Hensley’s lawyer, Jonathan Mitchell, said in the new court filing.
Mitchell declined to comment. A lawyer for the judicial commission, Douglas Lang, on Monday said it was opposed to the continuation of Hensley’s lawsuit.
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