Judge Censured After Sex-Change Remarks

A judge who told two people undergoing sex-change operations it was “immoral” and a sign of a “diseased mind” has been censured by the state Judicial Conduct Commission.

Eatonville District Judge Alan Hutchinson will appeal the censure, the most severe punishment the panel can administer short of a recommendation for dismissal or suspension, said his lawyer, W. Theodore Vander Wel.

“This is a free-speech issue,” Vander Wel said Friday. “All of our laws have within them a moral element. We believe the judge was only reflecting that morality.”

The lawyer is handling the case on behalf of the Rutherford Institute, a conservative religious rights organization based in Charlottesville, Va.

The issue stems from a hearing in 1993 when Hutchinson heard a request by two men to adopt female names before undergoing sex change operations.

“I personally feel that this whole procedure is immoral,” the judge told them. “It evidences a mentally ill and diseased mind.”

The commission order, signed by eight of the panel members, directed the judge to attend a cultural diversity training session, and Hutchinson said he would comply.

“I believe that learning cultural sensitivity is something that everyone should do,” he said, gesturing to his wife, who is Korean. “I myself am especially aware of the importance of understanding other cultures.”