(Reuters) - A Texas judge on Monday asked the state Supreme Court to revive her religious rights lawsuit against a judicial ethics panel that sanctioned her in 2019 over her refusal to officiate at same-sex marriage ceremonies.
Lawyers for Dianne Hensley, a Texas justice of the peace who sits in Waco, argued in a court filing that a lower appeals tribunal wrongly upheld the dismissal of her lawsuit against the State Commission on Judicial Conduct.
She has declined to officiate at same-sex weddings on account of her Christian faith.
Hensley's lawsuit is not challenging the commission's sanction. Instead her legal team, led by conservative lawyer Jonathan Mitchell, an architect of state anti-abortion legislative efforts, is pursuing damages and an injunction against any future disciplinary action tied to performing same-sex weddings.
"The 'public warning' that the Commission issued … will remain on the books no matter what happens in this lawsuit, and it will not be disturbed by the relief that Judge Hensley is seeking," Mitchell told the justices.
Mitchell and Hensley, a Republican, did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
In a statement on Tuesday, Douglas Lang, an attorney at Thompson Coburn representing the judicial commission, said the commission will "address the problems with the merits and procedural history" of Hensley's case when it files its court brief next month.
Justices of the peace, who are elected and serve four-year terms, hear certain misdemeanor and civil cases, and disputes involving landlords and tenants. They can officiate at weddings, but are not required to, Hensley's lawyers said.
The U.S. Supreme Court in June 2015 ruled that same-sex marriage coupled have a right to marriage under the U.S. Constitution.
Court filings show Hensley, a Waco judge since January 2015, crafted what her lawyers described as a wedding officiant "referral system" in which she identified a minister in the area, and another judge 20 miles away, who could preside at same-sex marriage ceremonies.
The commission in 2019 warned Hensley "for casting doubt on her capacity to act impartially to persons appearing before her as a judge due to the person's sexual orientation."
After the rebuke, Hensley said she stopped presiding at all weddings. She sued the commission in December 2019, but she did not appeal the agency's sanction.
A Texas appeals court last year upheld the dismissal of Hensley's lawsuit, which the court called an "impermissible collateral attack on the commission's order."
The case is Dianne Hensley v. State Commission on Judicial Conduct, Texas Supreme Court, No. 21-1145.
For plaintiff: Jonathan Mitchell of Mitchell Law and Kelly Shackelford of First Liberty Institute
For defendant: Douglas Lang of Thompson Coburn
