Tides Shift With Religious Freedom Ruling
A Texas judge who declined to perform same-sex weddings because of her religious beliefs has prevailed in a years-long legal battle against the state's judicial oversight commission, with a Travis County court awarding her damages and attorney's fees after finding violations of the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
The ruling orders the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct (SCJC) to pay Judge Dianne Hensley $10,000 in compensatory damages and approximately $630,000 in attorney's fees, according to First Liberty Institute, the conservative legal organization that represented her.
First Liberty hailed the decision as a complete victory for Hensley.
"Judge Hensley always adhered to the law and the legal guidance provided by the Attorney General of Texas," said Hiram Sasser, executive general counsel for First Liberty Institute. "We are grateful that this case has concluded and that Judge Hensley was vindicated."
A district court in Texas has awarded a substantial financial victory to a state judge who objected to performing same-sex weddings that would violate her Christian faith.
Judge Dianne Hensley won a big financial award for attorney fees and damages in her lawsuit against the… pic.twitter.com/CLgbgeLYAV
— CBN News (@CBNNews) June 23, 2026
The dispute began in 2019 after Hensley, a justice of the peace in McLennan County, chose not to officiate same-sex weddings because doing so would conflict with her Christian beliefs. Rather than simply refuse requests, Hensley maintained a referral list of local officials and judges who were willing to perform those ceremonies so that couples could be married without significant delay.
The State Commission on Judicial Conduct nevertheless issued Hensley a public warning, concluding that her conduct violated judicial ethics. Hensley responded by filing suit, arguing that the commission had infringed upon her rights under the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
The litigation eventually reached the Texas Supreme Court, which ruled in 2024 that Hensley's lawsuit could proceed.
In that opinion, Chief Justice Jimmy Blacklock observed that no same-sex couple had filed a complaint against Hensley over the arrangement.
"I find it encouraging that we have no indication any same-sex couple even considered handling the situation that way. What decent person would?" Blacklock wrote. "Judge Hensley treated them respectfully. They got married nearby. They went about their lives. Judge Hensley went back to work, her Christian conscience clean, her knees bent only to her God. Sounds like a win-win."
Following the latest ruling, Sasser said the case demonstrates how religious liberty protections can coexist with public access to government services.
"She was modeling the way religious liberty works in this country, which is that we're not going to make people do stuff that violates their religious beliefs," Sasser told the Houston Chronicle. "We should reward the people who are still exercising their religious beliefs and opting out of things, but doing so in a way where they're being a good neighbor."
Although the state case has concluded, Hensley remains involved in another significant legal challenge.
In December, she filed a federal lawsuit seeking to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court's 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which recognized a constitutional right to same-sex marriage nationwide. That case remains pending and raises separate constitutional questions from the religious liberty dispute resolved in Texas.