ABA issues guidance for judges performing same-sex marriages
The American Bar Association Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility released today a formal opinion giving judges guidance related to their options for performing same-sex marriages under the Model Code of Judicial Conduct.
Formal Opinion 485 comes as states are implementing the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, and incorporates guidance developed for judges in Ohio, Arizona and Nebraska. That landmark decision found the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits states from refusing to license marriages between individuals of the same sex, and mandates that states recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-state.
The formal opinion differentiates between the obligations of a judge whose performance of marriages is either mandatory or optional. In either case, Formal Opinion 485 said the Model Code of Judicial Conduct is violated “by refusing to perform marriages for same-sex couples while agreeing to perform marriages of opposite-sex couples.”
If a judge is not obligated to perform marriages, the judge “may decline to perform all marriages for members of the public” while maintaining that prerogative for “family and friends,” the opinion said. Still, the judge must be consistent and not discriminate based on sexual preference in performing those specific marriages.
“The public is entitled to expect that judges will perform their activities and duties fairly, impartially and free from bias and prejudice,” Formal Opinion 485 says. “Further, while actual impartiality is necessary, it is not sufficient; the public must also perceive judges to be impartial. If state law authorizes or obligates a judge to perform marriages, a judge’s refusal to perform same-sex marriages while agreeing to perform marriages for opposite-sex couples is improper” under the judicial model code.
GOP?lawmakers block Gov. Whitmer order
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Republican lawmakers on Thursday blocked Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s bid to restructure the state environmental agency — the first time the Legislature has rejected a gubernatorial executive order since 1977.
The GOP-led Senate voted 22-16 against the order along party lines, criticizing her attempt to abolish new rule-making and permitting panels, and to establish an “environmental justice” office without defining what the term means. The Republican-controlled House voted down the order last week.
It was not immediately clear how Whitmer would respond.
She is awaiting a legal opinion from Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel on whether the commissions created last year violate federal environmental law. One panel oversees environmental rule-making — though the governor ultimately has the final say — while another can approve, modify or reverse permit decisions that have been challenged by companies or other parties.
Whitmer is empowered by the state constitution to change the organization of the executive branch. But the constitution also lets lawmakers turn down such an order if they do so within 60 days of it being issued.
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