WACO, Texas — Editor's note: The video in this story is from Dec. 2019 when the warning was issued.
A Waco justice of the peace who was warned for not performing same-sex marriages is suing the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct, the agency that investigates judicial misconduct and issued the warning.
McLennan County Justice of the Peace Dianne Hensley and First Liberty Institute’s Special Counsel for Litigation and Communications Jeremy Dys announced they would be holding a news conference Tuesday at 2 p.m. about the lawsuit.
The warning, which was made public on Dec. 2, said Hensley refused to perform same-sex weddings since August 2016, despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision a year earlier that established the constitutional right to same-sex marriage. The commission found that Hensley performed several weddings for opposite-sex couples in that same time.
The commission said Hensley violated the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct by “casting doubt on her capacity to act impartially to persons appearing before her as a judge due to the person’s sexual orientation.”
The commission referred to comments Hensley made to the Waco Tribune-Herald in 2017 in which she said her “Bible-believing” Christian conscience prohibited her from doing same-sex weddings. She also told the newspaper that she believed she was entitled to a “religious exemption.”
Her office sometimes told same-sex couples that the judge was not available, giving them a list of those who will perform same-sex weddings and a document stating, “I’m sorry, but Judge Hensley has a sincerely held religious belief as a Christian, and will not be able to perform any same-sex weddings,” the commission’s order said.
The commission determined the judge should be publicly warned for "casting doubt on her capacity to act impartially to persons appearing before her as a judge due to the person's sexual orientation."
Tuesday’s news conference will be held at the McLennan County Courthouse. 6 News will carry it live on KCENTV.com, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube.
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