Group files complaint against judge over marriage sentence

Published 4:00 pm Saturday, August 15, 2015

AUSTIN, Texas — A group that advocated for the separation of church and state filed a complaint about a Texas judge who ordered a man to marry his girlfriend as a condition of probation.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation said Friday it filed the complaint against Smith County Court-at-Law Judge Randall Rogers a day earlier with the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct in Austin.

Rogers gave 21-year-old Josten Bundy 30 days to marry 19-year-old Elizabeth James or face 15 days in jail on a guilty plea for misdemeanor assault. Bundy admitted he punched Jaynes’ ex-boyfriend twice in the jaw for “saying disrespectful things” about her. Rogers also ordered Bundy to scrawl a Bible verse 25 times daily.

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Rogers didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment.