A Waco justice of the peace who stopped performing weddings for same-sex couples filed a new federal lawsuit in December 2025 seeking to overturn the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide and to block state disciplinary actions against her.
The lawsuit, filed by McLennan County Justice of the Peace Dianne Hensley, asks federal courts to declare the Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges decision unconstitutional and to restore authority to individual states to regulate marriage.
Hensley’s filing follows years of conflict with the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct, which issued her a public warning in 2019 after it found that she performed weddings only for opposite-sex couples while referring same-sex couples to other officiants.
Hensley states in court documents that she stopped performing all marriages in 2015 when same-sex marriage became legal and later resumed weddings for opposite-sex couples only, citing her religious beliefs as the basis for her decision.
The lawsuit claims that the commission’s warning and any potential future sanctions violate Hensley’s rights under the U.S. Constitution and Texas law, including free exercise of religion protections.
Hensley seeks a court order that prevents the State Commission on Judicial Conduct from enforcing disciplinary measures against her for refusing to perform same-sex weddings while continuing to allow her to conduct opposite-sex ceremonies.
Attorney Jonathan Mitchell, who helped design Texas’ 2021 abortion law that allowed private civil enforcement, represents Hensley and serves as counsel of record in the federal case.
The lawsuit argues that Obergefell v. Hodges conflicts with the original meaning of the U.S. Constitution and contends that the federal government exceeded its authority when it required states to recognize and license same-sex marriages.
The filing asks the federal courts to revisit and overturn Obergefell by presenting Hensley’s case as a vehicle for the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider the precedent on same-sex marriage.
