Judge Who Jailed Lawyer for Not Reciting Pledge of Allegiance Should be Removed from the Bench
This one goes into the “you've GOT to be kidding me” category.
Lee County Chancery Court Judge Talmadge Littlejohn jailed Oxford lawyer Danny Lampley on Wednesday for refusing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in open court. Here is Patsy Brumfield's story, complete with a mug-shot of the Criminal Lampley.
Here is the contempt order courtesy of Tom Freeland (NMC). Here is the NMC post on the Criminal Lampley's treason. Here is Anderson's post about the incident involving the Criminal Lampley.
Don't think it's criminal to refuse to recite the Pledge of Allegiance? Me neither. Lampley was exercising his Constitutional right to refrain from declaring his allegiance to the flag or to the U.S.A.
We don't live in Soviet Russia. In fact, Russians don't live in Soviet Russia.
How in the name of God's Green Earth a judge with a college degree, a law degree and some amount of experience as a judge in the State of Mississippi could think that he can force feed the Pledge of Allegiance down someone's throat is beyond me. Judge Littlejohn can lead the Pledge in his courtroom until the cows come home. But if someone in the courtroom refuses to join in, that's just too bad.
If anyone should know Constitutional rights and basic notions of freedoms, it's judges.
And don't even think that this is about the meaning of Lampley's refusal or whether you agree with it. This is about Constitutionally protected rights that are not checked at the door of Judge Littlejohn's courtroom.
Judge Littlejohn's conduct was ignorant and inexcusable. I hope that Judge John Toney and the Commission on Judicial Performance are already looking at this.
You have got to be sh##ting me. They call the problem ROBE syndrome and it infects a small portion of the judge population. That is the main reason we need to be able to vote for judges.
I don't think someone should go to jail for not saying the pledge.
But what about another type of expression in a court room? When the judge walks in and you hear "all rise" - what if an attorney did not believe the judge deserved that honor and remained seated? Could he be found in contempt for that?
Brian, the court's contempt power allows it to enforce some degree of respect for itself.
That cannot be carried to the point of silliness. Can the court require everyone to sing "Happy Birthday" or "Sweet Home Alabama" under pain of contempt, because the court's feelings are hurt if everyone doesn't do what it wants?
A narrower question is obscenity. Recently a judge held a person in contempt for appearing in court with a T-shirt saying "I Have the Pussy So I Make the Rules." Cohen v. Cal. allowed a "Fuck the Draft" jacket to be worn in a courthouse, but did not address wearing it in a courtroom.
I think either garment could be required to be covered up in a courtroom. But the court could not require everyone to recite "Fuck the Draft!" or the pledge.
Brian wrote:
But what about another type of expression in a court room? When the judge walks in and you hear "all rise" - what if an attorney did not believe the judge deserved that honor and remained seated? Could he be found in contempt for that?
I don't know. But you aren't necessarily standing for that particular judge. You are also standing as a sign of respect for the position and the judicial system.
You stand out of respect for the judiciary, even if you think that the judge is a nut who might throw a lawyer in jail for not saying the Pledge of Allegiance.
Philip, true, but can't someone express that they don't honor the judiciary either by not standing? I guess in that case, if a person holds contempt for the court, then the court could hold contempt for that person as well. ;)
Anderson, good point. I don't think the Pledge is "silliness" though.
Someone suggested that if you were opposed to the saying the Pledge, you could excuse yourself from the courtroom until after the Pledge and then return. You don't disobey the judge; you don't violate your own conscience. In theory, that sounds best to me. But I don't know in practice how that works (would an attorney involved in the pending case have to ask permission to leave or anything like that), and the judge might also be angered to see a lawyer walk out of the courtroom which would be a bigger disturbance than apparently what this one did which was rise but be silent.
I completely agree with you, Mr. Thomas. This kind of abuse of power by a judge should get him removed from the bench. This power hungry judge is overriding the Constitution, isn't his job to uphold it? Ridiculous. and to Brian, respect for the judge by standing is standard in a court. Standing demonstrates that you comply with the judicial system. I have been in court and not stood, nothing happened, it's not a low and not a part of the Constitution in the U.S. Hope that helps.
This particular Judge and I have very different views about the Constitution. I believe it should be applied in an intellectually consistent way. Others tend to be far more result oriented.
I don't think the Pledge is "silliness" though.
*Mandating* the pledge is silly. I mean, good god, Barnette has been on the books for 67 years. It's almost as old as Judge Littlejohn himself.
This story is alarming. This judge has got to explain why he would do something so obviously wrong. Clearing he is unfit to be a judge.
So what, if anything, can a judge mandate in the courtroom?
Having an ongoing case in Judge Littlejohn's court for 6+ years, I totally agree that he should be removed from the bench for judicial misconduct. I have many complaints in addition to his actions in the above mentioned case.