FFRF Action Fund’s “Theocrat of the Week” is a city court judge in Syracuse, N.Y., for putting her personal religious beliefs above her secular duties.
Syracuse City Court Judge Felicia Pitts Davis is under investigation by the state Commission of Judicial Conduct and facing calls for resignation after she refused to marry two women in mid-November. The couple, Shawntay and Nicorra Davis, told local media outlet CNY Central that Pitts Davis left the courtroom on Nov. 16 when she saw that the two women were her next wedding. Syracuse City Court Judge Mary Anne Doherty, who is also a part of the LGBTQ-plus community, officiated the couple’s wedding after Pitts Davis’ walkout.
According to Syracuse.com, Pitts Davis married a heterosexual couple in the same courtroom minutes before refusing to marry the two women. Pitts Davis also allegedly told Doherty that she could not marry the couple because it went against her religious beliefs, prioritizing her belief system over her secular duty to serve all New Yorkers regardless of sexual orientation.
Shawntay Davis described the event: “All of a sudden she looked at us, she just swished her hair and walked away like she was disgusted or something, and I noticed it and was like, ‘What’s going on?’ Then, another judge came in.”
An investigation against Pitts Davis was launched following the incident, and court spokesperson Al Baker told Syracuse.com: “Under New York law, judges are authorized, but not obligated, to perform marriages. Judges who choose to perform marriages may not unlawfully discriminate when deciding which couples they will marry.”
Pitts Davis was elected to a 10-year term in 2020 and now faces calls to resign due to her discriminatory behavior. The people of New York are unsure if they can rely on the judge to be unbiased in any cases that pertain to LGBTQ-plus people that she may reside over. Syracuse City Auditor Alexander Marion, who is a part of the LGBTQ-plus community, urged Pitts Davis to “step down so all the people of our community can be assured they receive equal treatment under the law.” A petition from a local LGBTQ-plus advocacy group, CNY Pride, has garnered over 2,200 signatures calling for Pitts Davis to resign so her seat can be filled by a judge who “believes in the fair and impartial application of New York law.”
Under New York state law, a judge can either decide not to perform any marriages or perform all marriages. Judges are not allowed to pick and choose which marriages they want to perform. New York’s Marriage Equality Act of 2011 also guarantees marriage equality under state law, and New York voters codified protections for LGBTQ-plus people against discrimination in the state constitution through a November referendum, dubbed the Equal Rights Amendment.
A grand jury convened to hear testimony about the incident on Wednesday while considering the allegations of misconduct against Pitts Davis. The couple confirmed that the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office has asked them to testify. Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick confirmed that he plans to ask Pitts Davis to recuse herself from all of his office’s cases because of an anti-LGBTQ-plus bias that may cloud her judgment. He will review Pitts Davis’ past cases to ensure that she has not allowed her religious beliefs to interfere with judgments.
Pitts Davis has certainly earned her “Theocrat of the Week” designation for putting her religious beliefs above the secular duties she was elected to perform. All judges should commit to not allowing their religious beliefs and biases to interfere with upholding the law.
FFRF Action Fund is a 501(c)(4) organization that develops and advocates for legislation, regulations and government programs to preserve the constitutional principle of separation between state and church. It also advocates for the rights and views of nonbelievers, endorses candidates for political office, and publicizes the views of elected officials concerning religious liberty issues.