Judge jails attorney for refusing to recite the pledge

[General Zod]

You guessed it, the South

JACKSON, Miss. — A Mississippi judge jailed a lawyer for several hours for refusing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, ordering the attorney to "purge himself" of contempt by standing and repeating the oath like the rest of the courtroom.

After Oxford attorney Danny Lampley spent about five hours in the county jail Wednesday, Chancery Judge Talmadge Littlejohn let him go free. Lampley, 49, was released so that he could represent another client, the judge said in a later order.

Lampley told The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal he respected the judge but wasn't going to back down.

JACKSON, Miss. — A Mississippi judge jailed a lawyer for several hours for refusing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, ordering the attorney to "purge himself" of contempt by standing and repeating the oath like the rest of the courtroom.

After Oxford attorney Danny Lampley spent about five hours in the county jail Wednesday, Chancery Judge Talmadge Littlejohn let him go free. Lampley, 49, was released so that he could represent another client, the judge said in a later order.

Lampley told The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal he respected the judge but wasn't going to back down.

"It's simply not permissible to force someone to do that," Atwood said.

The Pledge of Allegiance has faced challenges since it was published in 1892.

In 1943, the Supreme Court ruled that children in public schools could not be forced to salute the flag and say the pledge. In 1954, the words "under God" were added to the pledge, when members of Congress at the time said they wanted to set the United States apart from "godless communists."

In March, an appellate court upheld references to God on U.S. currency and in the Pledge of Allegiance, rejecting arguments they violate the constitutional separation of church and state.

Atwood said Lampley could file a complaint with Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance, but the best way to handle the situation was to "educate the judge on why he shouldn't do it again."

Littlejohn is in his second term as a chancery judge and presides over divorces and child custody disputes. Judges in Mississippi are elected, though they run in nonpartisan races.

Littlejohn is running unopposed for re-election in November.

He is a former state lawmaker. He ran for a congressional seat as a Democrat in 1996, finishing second out of three candidates in the Democratic primary. He lost a runoff.

I'm not entirely sure this is N&P worthy, but this kind of bullshit just makes me even more leery about going anywhere near the south.

[Molyneux]

Horribly unconstitutional, that, and the only reason this won't go anywhere is that the man was in prison for less time than a Lord of the Rings marathon.

[Serafina]

Horribly unconstitutional, that, and the only reason this won't go anywhere is that the man was in prison for less time than a Lord of the Rings marathon.

Given that he is an attorney, i still hope that that idiot judge get's his ass kicked - legally, of course.

[Mr. Coffee]

I pretty much stopped reading once I saw "Jackson, Miss." Really, I mean is anyone at all surprised this shit happens in the South, much less in fucking Mississippi? If you've ever been through Mississippi it's quite possibly the most back-ass-ward state in the US. They actually make Alabama look refined and cultured.

[Lonestar]

I pretty much stopped reading once I saw "Jackson, Miss." Really, I mean is anyone at all surprised this shit happens in the South, much less in fucking Mississippi? If you've ever been through Mississippi it's quite possibly the most back-ass-ward state in the US. They actually make Alabama look refined and cultured.

Hey bro! I forget, which state had a supreme court justice put up the 10 Commandments in the courthouse in defiance of a federal court order?

[AMT]

I'm not terribly sure on how things run in Court, but can't the Judge do this? It's technically not a religious thing (as much as I dislike the pledge and didn't do it in High School).

IIRC Judges are allowed to say Jump and people in court have to say how high, or be judged in contempt. But as I said before, no idea how allowed it is.

[ShadowDragon8685]

Clearly, the Judge could, because he did.

What remains to be seen is whether the ACLU and/or the lawyer in question will stretch his asshole over an industrial containment silo for doing so or not.

[CaiusWickersham]

I'm not terribly sure on how things run in Court, but can't the Judge do this? It's technically not a religious thing (as much as I dislike the pledge and didn't do it in High School).

IIRC Judges are allowed to say Jump and people in court have to say how high, or be judged in contempt. But as I said before, no idea how allowed it is.

Judges have a lot of discretion over how they run their courtrooms, yes, but they can't violate the law. This should definitely be brought before the judicial conduct committee and the judge strongly urged to re-read West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette several times until it sinks into his skull.

[AMT]

I'm not terribly sure on how things run in Court, but can't the Judge do this? It's technically not a religious thing (as much as I dislike the pledge and didn't do it in High School).

IIRC Judges are allowed to say Jump and people in court have to say how high, or be judged in contempt. But as I said before, no idea how allowed it is.

Judges have a lot of discretion over how they run their courtrooms, yes, but they can't violate the law. This should definitely be brought before the judicial conduct committee and the judge strongly urged to re-read West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette several times until it sinks into his skull.

Yes, they can't violate the law, but forcing people to do the Pledge of Allegiance isn't illegal, is what I'm trying to say. It would be nice if it was, but that got defeated last year. So... yeah, it seems like it might be a dead issue.

[General Zod]

It would be nice if it was, but that got defeated last year. So... yeah, it seems like it might be a dead issue.

Can you provide links to the case?

[Alyrium Denryle]

I'm not terribly sure on how things run in Court, but can't the Judge do this? It's technically not a religious thing (as much as I dislike the pledge and didn't do it in High School).

IIRC Judges are allowed to say Jump and people in court have to say how high, or be judged in contempt. But as I said before, no idea how allowed it is.

Judges have a lot of discretion over how they run their courtrooms, yes, but they can't violate the law. This should definitely be brought before the judicial conduct committee and the judge strongly urged to re-read West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette several times until it sinks into his skull.

Yes, they can't violate the law, but forcing people to do the Pledge of Allegiance isn't illegal, is what I'm trying to say. It would be nice if it was, but that got defeated last year. So... yeah, it seems like it might be a dead issue.

Yeah. The issue of whether or not the state could force someone to say the pledge was settled back in 1943. It cannot. While it applied to school children, school children have far fewer constitutional protections than adults do, and if it applies to them it applies to adults. This is also how the ruling (W. Virginia Board of Ed V. Barnette) has been interpreted, to apply generally. It does not matter whether or not the constitutionality of the pledge itself was upheld by an appellate court.

[Mr. Coffee]

I pretty much stopped reading once I saw "Jackson, Miss." Really, I mean is anyone at all surprised this shit happens in the South, much less in fucking Mississippi? If you've ever been through Mississippi it's quite possibly the most back-ass-ward state in the US. They actually make Alabama look refined and cultured.

Hey bro! I forget, which state had a supreme court justice put up the 10 Commandments in the courthouse in defiance of a federal court order?

That would be Roy Moore, dude. We got rid of his ass. For fuck's sake, we thought Bob Riley was a better, less embarrassing alternative to Moore in the republican primaries in the 2006 state governor election and Riley's an utter fucking assclown.