Kim Davis went to jail in Kentucky for standing on her faith against Obergefell.
A Texas judge tried a different approach – and the same machinery that jailed Davis came after her anyway.
The fight she picked with that agency just ended in a way nobody in Austin saw coming.
How Judge Dianne Hensley Refused to Officiate Same-Sex Weddings and Kept Her Faith
Waco Justice of the Peace Dianne Hensley had a simple solution after the Supreme Court's 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling forced judges across America to make a choice about homosexual marriage.
She stopped officiating weddings entirely.
Then a young woman showed up in tears, unable to find anyone to marry her and her fiancé.
"I heard this poor young woman literally crying because they couldn't find anybody to marry them," Hensley told the Dallas Morning News.
So Hensley came back to officiating – but only for opposite-sex couples.
For anyone else, she compiled a referral list of local officiants who would perform same-sex ceremonies at her same low price, all within walking distance.
Not one person complained.
The Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct launched an investigation anyway in 2018 and issued a formal public warning – the second most severe sanction it could issue – accusing her referral system of casting doubt on her capacity to act impartially as a judge.
Hensley's response: she sued them.
The Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act Case That Took Seven Years to Win
The legal battle ran from 2019 to 2026, and the commission fought every step of the way.
Hensley's case eventually reached the Texas Supreme Court, which in 2024 ruled her claims could proceed to the lower courts.
The commission tried to dodge the bill. It quietly withdrew the original sanction, arguing that no sitting commissioner had been at the agency when Hensley was reprimanded – and therefore the agency bore no financial responsibility.
That argument didn't hold.
Austin's Third Court of Appeals sided with Hensley in May 2025, allowing the Travis County District Court to hear the case.
In October 2025, every Texas Supreme Court justice had already signed off on an amendment to the state's Code of Judicial Conduct establishing that a judge who declines to perform a wedding ceremony on religious grounds commits no violation of impartiality rules.
Then on January 9, 2026, the Texas Supreme Court settled the matter in a separate case, ruling the commission had no authority under state law to discipline judges who decline to perform homsexual weddings for religious reasons.
That ruling sealed it for Hensley.
Judge Awarded Maximum Damages and 630000 Dollars in Attorney Fees
Travis County District Court Judge Maya Guerra Gamble – a Democrat – issued the final judgment on June 16.
The award: $10,000 in compensatory damages, the maximum allowed under the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and $630,000 in attorney's fees.
The ruling permanently blocks the commission from "investigating, sanctioning, or disciplining Judge Hensley over her refusal to officiate at same sex weddings on account of her religious beliefs, regardless of whether Judge Hensley continues to perform marriages for opposite-sex couples."
"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, which represented Hensley throughout the case. "We are grateful that this case has concluded and that Judge Hensley was vindicated."
Hensley had her own read on the ruling: "I think the agency overstepped itself, and what we saw was their bias on the issue and not the law."
The Commission Still Faces a Statewide Class Action Lawsuit Seeking Tens of Millions
Hensley's case didn't just protect one judge in Waco.
Across Texas, other justices of the peace with identical religious convictions had already walked away from their wedding officiating entirely rather than risk the kind of seven-year ordeal Hensley endured – surrendering the income rather than face the commission.
Now they're filing for it back. The statewide class-action lawsuit Brandt v. State Commission on Judicial Conduct is seeking tens of millions of dollars in lost income on behalf of those judges.
Hensley also filed a separate federal lawsuit in December seeking to overturn Obergefell altogether, arguing the federal judiciary has no constitutional authority to create fundamental rights the Constitution never mentions.
"People cannot be made – cannot be forced into participating in things that they have a religious disagreement with," Sasser said.
That sentence just cost the commission $640,000 to learn.
Sources:
- First Liberty Institute, "Court Enters Final Judgment in Favor of Waco Judge Who Refused To Perform Same-Sex Weddings," First Liberty Institute, June 2026.
- Ryan Foley, "Texas judge who refused to officiate same-sex weddings wins $640K legal victory," Christian Post, June 2026.
- "Texas judge who refused to officiate same-sex weddings awarded $640K," Fox 4 Dallas-Fort Worth, June 2026.
- CBN News, "Texas Judge Wins Big After Faith-Based Stand on Marriage, Awarded $640K," CBN News, June 2026.
- "Texas judge can't be punished for refusing to officiate same-sex weddings, court rules," Washington Times, June 19, 2026.
