A Kentucky ethics panel is proceeding with charges against a family court judge who refused to handle adoption cases involving gay and lesbian adults.
The judge resigned and asked to have the charges dismissed, but his request has been denied.
The Kentucky Judicial Conduct Commission has scheduled a hearing for Judge W. Mitchell Nance on December 15 – the day before his resignation takes effect. Nance has been a family court judge for Barren and Metcalf counties.
He filed a statement in April that that under no circumstances would he consider the adoption of a child by same sex parents to be in the child’s best interest. He asked attorneys to notify him of those cases, so could recuse himself.
Instead, the Judicial Conduct Commission filed charges against Nance for failing to respect and comply with the law, failing to hear matters assigned to him, and “manifesting by words or conduct a bias or prejudice…” based several conditions, including sexual orientation.
Attorneys for the 66-year-old Nance asked for the charges to be dismissed based on his resignation. However, the ethics commission is proceeding with the charges.
