The Texas Supreme Court has ruled that justices of the peace and anyone who can legally perform wedding ceremonies in the Lone Star State can refuse to perform a ceremony based on a “sincerely held religious belief.”
In a three-page document with the new interpretation of the Judicial Code of Conduct, the highest court in the state commented: “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.”
According to KXAN, the change comes after a federal appeals court formally asked the Texas Supreme Court to clarify a question about state law involving a case earlier this year. A North Texas county official sued the state in federal court over concerns that he would face punishment if he refused to perform same sex marriages for couples while performing weddings for opposite-sex couples.
Jack County Judge Brian Umphress said performing a marriage for same sex couples goes against his religion, and forcing him to perform such a wedding would violate his First Amendment rights.
One big concern that has come out of the Texas Supreme Court’s decision is whether it sets a precedent for interracial marriages. Jason Mazzone, Constitutional Law Professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, said the court’s broad language could open the door for judges to do just that.
“Given the wording of the comment of the Texas Supreme Court, it does seem, as you suggest, that a judge who says, ‘For religious reasons, I’m not going to perform the interracial marriage,’ that too would fall within the scope of the comment that the Texas Supreme Court issued and would not trigger any sort of discipline of the judge,” he told KXAN.
Neil Thomas, senior pastor at Cathedral of Hope in Dallas, the world’s largest progressive church, blasted the Texas Supreme Court for its interpretation of the law, according to Baptist News.
“This ruling is nothing less than state-sanctioned discrimination and a betrayal of the fundamental promise of equality of the law,” he said. “This decision gives prejudice a platform and power it does not deserve.”
He added: “To deny couples the right to marry because of who they love is an affront to both our Constitution and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let us be clear: This is not about religious freedom; it is about institutionalizing bias.”