(Photo: KOBBI R. BLAIR, Statesman Journal) 
 
 PORTLAND, Ore. – A Marion County judge has refused to perform same-sex marriages and has asked his clerks to refer couples seeking same-sex marriages to other county judges. Marion County Circuit Judge Vance Day, a former chairman of the Oregon Republican Party, took steps Thursday to create a legal defense fund in an apparent response to his decision not to perform same-sex marriage ceremonies. It was not immediately clear whether Day was under investigation. Korten said Day took the action based on his “deeply-held religious beliefs.” 
 
 “It’s an exercise of his religious freedom rights under the First Amendment,” Korten said. Among those allowed to conduct such proceedings, known in legal parlance as "solemnizing" the marriage, are state judges, federal judges (including magistrates), county clerks and religious congregations. The judge didn't return messages from The Oregonian/OregonLive for comment. Day’s decision came to light on Thursday when the Oregon Government Ethics Commission gave Day permission to create a legal fund for himself. Day noted in an affidavit signed Aug. 19 that he was seeking to establish the fund to defray legal expenses in connection with inquiries by the Oregon Commission on Judicial Fitness and Disability involving allegations of violations of the Oregon Code of Judicial Conduct and the Oregon Constitution.
– A judge in Oregon is refusing to perform same-sex marriages because of "deeply held religious beliefs," reports KGW. Judge Vance Day—former chairman of the state's Republican Party—created a legal defense fund yesterday, apparently to pay for expenses he expects to incur fighting allegations he's violating the state's Code of Judicial Conduct as well as its constitution, reports Oregon Live. “It’s an exercise of his religious freedom rights under the First Amendment,” his spokesperson tells KGW. The station reports Day hasn't performed any same-sex marriages since becoming a judge in 2011—telling his clerks to send gay couples elsewhere—and stopped performing marriages entirely in the spring. Oregon law does not require judges to perform marriages, and there are apparently six other judges in Day's county available to perform them. Day's spokesperson says the judge is facing an ethics investigation, though details on what exactly is being investigated haven't been released. In Oregon, public officials are allowed to set up trusts to pay for legal defenses against government investigations, Oregon Live reports.