Protest may lead to judge’s ouster

The Wyoming Supreme Court must decide whether to remove from office a Pinedale judge who says her religious beliefs would prevent her from presiding over same-sex marriages.

The court heard arguments on Judge Ruth Neely’s appeal of a removal recommendation from the Wyoming Commission on Judicial Conduct and Ethics.

The court will issue a written opinion later.

Neely, who’s not a lawyer, is a municipal judge in Pinedale and has been suspended from her position as a circuit court magistrate in Sublette County.

The ethics commission investigated Neely after she told a reporter in 2014 that she wouldn’t preside over same-sex marriages. Her lawyers said no samesex couples had asked her to perform their marriage.