Ruth Neely, who has served her community in Wyoming for over twenty years as a municipal judge and circuit court magistrate, has been the victim of a vicious crusade by the Wyoming Commission on Judicial Conduct and Ethics. After refusing to perform gay weddings because of her Christian beliefs, the state agency demanded last spring that she not only be banned from the judiciary, but also that she pay up to $40,000 in fines for publicly expressing her religious objection. It is important to note that there was at least one other magistrate who performs same-sex weddings, so gay couples were not left without another option. Shortly after same-sex marriage was legalized in 2014, Neely stated in an interview, “When law and religion conflict, choices have to be made.”[...]
