By Shelby Sebens
PORTLAND, Ore. (Reuters) - An Oregon judge who refused
to perform same-sex marriages is facing multiple complaints in a state ethics
investigation, including that he put up a picture of Adolf Hitler in the Salem
courthouse, a state judicial commission said on Tuesday.
Marion County Circuit Court Judge Vance Day is facing an
ethics review for screening wedding applicants for gay couples and then
refusing to perform the marriages, according to a notice by the Commission on
Judicial Fitness and Disability.
A U.S. Supreme Court decision in late June legalized
same-sex marriage in all 50 states, but a small number of elected clerks and
lower-court judges have voiced opposition on religious grounds, including
Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis who was released from jail on Tuesday after
refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses.
In addition to the wedding refusal, Day faces complaints
of putting up a picture of Hitler in the Marion County courthouse and allowing
a veteran with a felony to handle a firearm.
Patrick Korten, a spokeswoman for Day, said the
complaints were baseless. He said the Hitler picture was part of a display to
honor the service of veterans in World War Two and not to glorify the Nazi
dictator.
"We went to war against Hitler," Korten said.
"His picture was there. It was not admiringly. It was him as the epitome
of the enemy that we went to fight against."
Day has retained an attorney and will be allowed to
present evidence at a Nov. 9 hearing, according to the judicial commission
notice.
The commission could send the complaint to the Oregon
Supreme Court if it finds the judge guilty of violating the judicial code of
conduct and the state constitution.
It could also dismiss the complaints, the notice said.
(Reporting by
Shelby Sebens; Editing by Eric M. Johnson and Peter Cooney)
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