Is American society in the process of utterly decimating First Amendment rights? Recently, Judge Ruth Neely was taken to court because of her personal religious beliefs. She had previously served twenty-one years as the municipal judge in Pinedale, Wyoming, and had carried out her duties faithfully and with no infraction. What had Neely done wrong then? According to The Public Discourse, everything started late December 2014, when she received a call:
Shortly after the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals declared Wyoming marriage statutes unconstitutional, a reporter from the Sublette Examiner called Judge Neely to ask if she was “excited” to perform same-sex marriages. It was only because she had accepted a part-time job as a circuit court magistrate that this question had any relevance at all. In that unpaid position, she was authorized, but not obligated, to solemnize marriages. She gave a perfectly reasonable reply. She said that if she were ever asked, she would help the couple find someone to do the job. However, she would “not be able to do” it herself.
And now, for almost a year and a half, she has been dealing with allegations against her on grounds of bias. Furthermore, she is facing steep consequences: if she loses her case, then she will be removed from the bench. Neely’s case brings up a distressing question: what fate does this foreshadow for those who share similar convictions? The article offers this prediction:
If they manage to prove all of those things, that would mean that faithful Jews, Catholics, Protestants, Mormons, and Muslims must either cease practicing their faith or be removed from the bench. At the very least, such judges would be forbidden to speak their minds.
The decision of the Wyoming Supreme Court judge will likely foretell what is going to happen to American citizens’ First Amendment rights. In the hunt to call Judge Neely out for discrimination, the Wyoming Supreme Court commits the exact same error. To break the case down to its most basic elements, Judge Ruth Neely is on trial for her religious beliefs. If she loses her case and is removed from her office, it will spell the beginning of the end for religious freedom and freedom of speech in the United States.
Be sure to check out the original article at The Public Discourse.
