NMC reported yesterday that the Judicial Performance Commission is recommending to the Supreme Court that Judge Talmadge Littlejohn be publicly reprimanded and fined $100 for jailing lawyer Danny Lampley. Lampley’s offense was refusing to say the pledge of allegiance to the flag in court. Seriously. Lampley exercised a First Amendment right and Judge Littlejohn threw him in the slammer.

Based on the comments to NMC’s post, the general sentiment is that Littlejohn should take a bigger hit. In October I advocated that Judge Littlejohn be removed from the bench. But I never thought that was a real possibility and concede that it’s not. Even if it should be.

I have mixed feelings about the recommendation. I can see the argument that the Commission should not go overboard and recommend that the Supreme Court punish someone too harshly for one bone-headed ruling.

On the other hand, I also see the argument that a stronger message needs to be sent to Littlejohn and other wing-nut judges that they apply the law—they aren’t the law. Littlejohn apparently decided that he gets to be the Stalin of his courtroom and can banish lawyers to the Gulag when they refuse to profess their allegiance to the motherland.

I have to believe that Judge Littlejohn knew that he was wrong and Lampley was right. That’s probably what caused Littlejohn to go crazy and throw Lampley in jail. Lawyers are supposed to show respect and deference to trial judges when they get something dead wrong. Littlejohn thought Lampley wasn’t and blew his top.

It will be interesting to see what the Supreme Court does. I put the odds at 80% that the Court adopts the Commission’s recommendation and 20% that the Court imposes a harsher sanction.