The Texas Supreme Court has ruled that justices of the peace and others authorized to perform wedding ceremonies may lawfully refuse to conduct a ceremony based on a “sincerely held religious belief.” The three-page document clarified the state’s Judicial Code of Conduct, stating, “It is not a violation of these canons for a judge to publicly refrain from performing a wedding ceremony based upon a sincerely held religious belief.”
The decision followed a request from a federal appeals court for clarification after a North Texas county judge, Brian Umphress, filed a lawsuit asserting that being required to perform same-sex marriages would violate his First Amendment rights.
Some legal experts expressed concern that the court’s broad wording could potentially extend to other cases. Jason Mazzone, a constitutional law professor, said, “Given the wording of the comment of the Texas Supreme Court, it does seem … that a judge who says, ‘For religious reasons, I’m not going to perform the interracial marriage,’ that too would fall within the scope.”
