Demonstrations outside the U.S. Supreme Court on the day of arguments in the cases involving same-sex marriage, Obergefell v. Hodges. April 28, 2015. Photo by Mike Sacks/ALM Fifth Circuit Questions Abstention in Judge's Same-Sex Marriage Appeal
Jack County Judge Brian Keith Umphress has alleged that he is at risk of judicial discipline because the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct issued a sanction against another judge who, like Umphress, would officiate weddings of heterosexual couples, but not homosexual couples.
July 06, 2021 at 03:11 PM
5 minute read
Judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Tuesday asked whether they should abstain from reinstating a case by a North Texas judge who alleges that a state ethics commission threatened him with discipline because he won't officiate at same-sex weddings.
In the oral argument in Umphress v. Hall, Chief Judge Priscilla Owen and Judges Jerry Smith and James Graves Jr. devoted much of the questioning to a federal abstention doctrine that says a federal court shouldn't rule in a constitutional challenge to a state law until state courts have gotten reasonable time to rule.
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