AUSTIN (Nexstar) -- Texas judges and justices of the peace, who are legally allowed to perform wedding ceremonies, now will not face punishment if they refuse to perform a ceremony on the basis of a "sincerely held religious belief," according to a new interpretation of the Judicial Code of Conduct issued by the Texas Supreme Court.

The state's highest court issued the new comment in the judicial code of conduct on Oct. 24. It reads, "It is not a violation of these canons for a judge to publicly refrain from performing a wedding ceremony based upon a sincerely held religious belief."

The comment was placed in a section of the code of conduct that deals with extra-judicial activities. The change comes after a federal appeals court formally asked the Texas Supreme Court to clarify a question about state law earlier this year.

In that case, a north Texas county official had sued the state in federal court over........

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