Ed Brayton flagged this story out of Mississippi where a judge apparently jailed a lawyer for contempt when the lawyer stood respectfully for the pledge of allegiance instead of reciting it.
Says the judge:
BE IT REMEMBERED, this date, the Court having ordered all present in the courtroom to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegience, and having found that Danny Lampley, Attorney at Law, failed and refused to do so, finds said Danny Lampley to be in criminal contempt of court.
I guess it’s Mississippi, and this kind of stuff is just going to happen there. However, I suspect the types of folks who routinely complain about activist, arrogant judges would see no problem with this case.
Ed quotes Justice Robert Jackson in West Virginia v. Barnette:
“If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein.”
I saw this also. Likely there will be no disciplinary action against this pathetically ignorant judge.
A little off topic, but there was a recent Court of Appeals case where the Court slapped down a judge in southern Indiana for effectively ordereing the imprisonment of a debtor for failure to make arrangements to pay at debt at a pro sup hearing. The debtor was on SS Disability. Perhaps she has never read the Indiana Constitution, a radical document for its time.
I blogged about that one a little over a year ago. As luck would have it, the judge in that case is a friend of a friend.
I would enjoy knowing the background on that case. My suspicion, without knowing, is that this particular debtor was more recalcitrant and less forthcoming than most about his income and assets.
Doug,
Interesting. Perhaps the debtor was less than forthright. But the judge’s remarks were effectively to pay something on the judgement, without a determination of whether he could pay, or take a ride with the Sheriff.
I recall the court remanded with a requirement that the court determine whether the debtor had the ability to pay.
And that case was a year ago? I sound like one of the old lawyers when I first was admitted. They would describe a recent case as one that was five years old.
Definitely, from the facts in the opinion, the Court of Appeals did the right thing. And, yeah, the years are starting to kind of blur together.
Ooooh! That is so wrong on soooo many levels! I don’t think there’s a straight-faced argument to be made for the Judge’s Order or holding anyone in contempt for disregarding it. And let’s just say it’s a good thing I don’t practice there.
Any sign this was a set-up? Does the Judge always do this? Does he mix hypocrisy with idolatry by Ordering everyone to say the Lord’s Prayer, too?
I posted the following tweet on this subject.
Voluntarily reciting the pledge of allegiance is fine. Where’s the “liberty for all” in forcing someone to pledge? http://j.mp/auG4Zh
http://twitter.com/bill_starr/status/26794524322
This judge should be removed immediately. He obviously is not qualified to interpret the laws of this country.
In Mississippi, when a witness takes an oath at a deposition or in court, do they require the witness to place his/her hand on a bible?