Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is in hot water again, this time over his same-sex marriage ruling last year. According to The Texas Tribune, the Texas State Bar has launched a disciplinary probe into Paxton’s conduct in the days following the US Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex unions. In a Feb. 2 letter, the State Board of Disciplinary Appeals directed the State Bar to investigate “possible violations” of professional conduct by the Attorney General.
Last summer, Paxton told Texas county clerks they could opt out of issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples if the clerks had religious objections. Almost immediately, a group of lawyers fileda complaint.
They allege that Paxton violated his oath to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States.” The complaint was dismissed, but the lawyers appealed, and now the case is back in the Chief Disciplinary Counsel’s court.