Commission Recommends Removal of State Judge On Various Grounds Including Resisting Same-Sex Weddings

In an opinion issued on Monday (full text), the Oregon Commission on Judicial Fitness and Disability recommended to the Oregon Supreme Court that Marion County Judge Vance Day be removed from office for violations of ten rules of the Code of Judicial Conduct.  Judge Day gained notice when he ordered his staff to screen wedding applicants to assure that any same-sex couples were directed to other judges.  The Commission found that this practice violated three separate rules of conduct.  In addition the Commission found that Judge Day violated Judicial Conduct Rules in connection with his interaction with individuals officiating at his son's soccer games; facilitating the handling of a firearm by a convicted felon who was on supervised probation, as well as personal out-of-court contacts with the felon who had been a Navy SEAL and awarded a Bronze Star; and by soliciting funds from attorneys to acquire military art to be hung in and around his Veterans Treatment Court.  Here is the written closing arguments submitted by Judge Day. Reuters reported on the Commission's opinion. (See prior related posting.)