SALEM, Ore. (CN) - Oregon Judge Vance Day, accused of refusing to officiate at same-sex marriages and displaying a portrait of Adolf Hitler in his courtroom, strode into Hearing Room 50 at the State Capitol on Monday and greeted his supporters with a big smile.
The Commission on Judicial Fitness and Disability also accused Day of soliciting and collecting money from attorneys, letting a former Navy SEAL who was a convicted felon handle a handgun, calling veterans in his court "raggedy asses," and using his stature as a judge to try to strong-arm a referee at his son's soccer game.
In an answer to the allegations, Day acknowledged that he had an assistant screen applicants for marriage ceremonies, but said that did not violate any ethical rules on judicial conduct because it is within his constitutional right to refuse to perform the ceremony. Day says his Christian beliefs prohibit him from marrying gay and lesbian couples.
Day sits on the Marion County Circuit Court in Salem, the state capital.
He claimed in his answer that he did not know that the Navy SEAL was a felon, though the man was a defendant in Day's court, in whom Day took personal interest, and hired to do odd jobs.
In opening statements Monday, Day's lawyer, Ralph Spooner, and commission lawyer Victoria Blatchley laid out the roadmap for the two-week hearing.
In a basement room in the State Capitol building, Spooner dismissed the allegations as courthouse rumors spread by people who disagreed with Day's politics.
Spooner said the commission began an investigation into the incident with the gun, which Day had self-reported, then caught wind of his alleged anti-gay bias. From there, the allegations multiplied in what Day called a "shotgun approach."
Spooner called Day an innocent champion of veterans' rights, who did not use his religious beliefs as a reason to discriminate. He said, for example, that Day had been a good friend to openly lesbian Marion County Circuit Court Judge Susan Tripp.
Spooner said Day had asked his judicial assistant to funnel gay couples to other judges because he wanted to make sure they had a good wedding day.
"Judge Day loves his brothers and sisters in the gay and lesbian community," Spooner said. "He respects their right to marry. He will also tell you that he has deeply held religious beliefs that prevent him from marrying same-sex couples. He believes that marriage is between a man and a woman, but that doesn't mean we discriminate against gays and lesbians."
Spooner said that Day tried to make sure that same-sex couples were able to be married by other judges.
"He said, 'I want you to take steps to make sure they're accommodated,'" Spooner said. "'You can find out ahead of time; it's even easier. If you can find out using their names that they're same sex, refer them to the clerk's office.' He didn't tell them to discriminate against anyone in the same-sex community. There's no victim here. There's no one who said, 'I want Judge Day to marry me and I'm hurt that he won't do that.'"
Spooner called Day's choice an ethical decision.