Oregon Judge Refuses To Perform Same-Sex Marriages, Now Under Ethics Investigation

It is now the religious beliefs of Judge Vance Day that gets the limelight. It is revealed that he has been refusing to perform same-sex marriages, even though they have been legal in Oregon since May 2014.

He has resorted to asking his staff to send couples to other judges, so that the Marion County Judge can follow his religious beliefs, according to The Guardian.

"He made a decision nearly a year ago to stop doing weddings altogether, and the principal factor that he weighed was the pressure that one would face to perform a same-sex wedding, in which he had a conflict with his religious beliefs," said Patrick Korten, a spokesman for Day.

An ethics probe by the Commission on Judicial Fitness and Disability is now looking into his case.

The information got revealed when the Oregon Government Ethics Commission had given him permission to set up a legal fund, opening the way for a probe that would lead him. Day believes that funds were required to project legal expenses.

He foresees that he would be incurring expenses while he defends himself during the "judicial ethics investigation", according to the Statesman Journal.

Last month, the Ohio Supreme Court's board of professional conduct ruled that judges can't "refuse to marry same-sex couples on personal, moral or religious grounds".

Otherwise, they would be viewed as "biased" and might even be "disqualified" from a case in which sexual orientation is an issue, ruled the Ohio board.

The judge's refusal has raised the hackles of Jeana Frazzini, co-director of the gay-rights group Basic Rights Oregon, according to hngn.

"Taking that kind of a step really calls into question how an LGBTQ person could expect to be treated in a court of law," Frazzini said. "It goes beyond marriage and gets to serious questions about judicial integrity."