A Syracuse judge could face consequences after not marrying a same-sex couple in November.
Syracuse City Court Judge Felicia Pitts-Davis is accused of refusing to marry two women in a city courtroom after marrying an opposite-sex couple the same day. The incident is being reviewed by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct. According to Syracuse University Professor of Law Paula Johnson, there are a few different potential outcomes.
"There is a range of different things that might come out of that, you know, from sanctions, admonition or censure of the judge, or removal or sanction," Johnson said. "And so from that gamut, you know, those are all of, you know, all of the possibilities. And that's the kind of thing that after a full, investigation and hearing on this matter, then we can expect that the court will make some pronouncement, the judicial ethics Commission which is a part of the court system, will make a pronouncement about that."
Johnson said one of the main issues with the case comes down to bias, and whether Pitts-Davis' personal bias had an impact on her civic duty as a judge.
"The judge has a right whether or not to conduct marriages in the court because the judge is a sitting public servant," Johnson said. "Now, the public, of course, is diverse. And as it relates to marriages, that means that people have the right to marriage. And we know that that is the case not only in New York state but nationally as well. So on every level of government, same-sex people have the right to marriage. Now, it doesn't mean that judges have to perform every marriage, but what they cannot do is discriminate against which people who are legally entitled to get married."
Some local officials including City Auditor Alex Marion and the Onondaga County Democratic Party are calling on Pitts-Davis to resign. Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh said the legal process needs to play out.
"It's unacceptable and more than that it's against the law," Walsh said. "Judges can't discriminate who they perform marriages for. Ultimately, in terms of what the appropriate outcome is, there's a process for that. It appears to be going through the state commission, I think that's important and I think it's important that the process moves quickly."
Pitts-Davis was elected to a 10-year term in 2020.
