A 55-year-old criminal defense lawyer from Chico, Calif., William Mayo,
confirmed he has filed complaints with the state's Commission on Judicial
Performance against two rural judges who allegedly lead Pledge recitations
in their courtrooms at the start of each day. http://rexcurry.net/pledge-allegiance-pledge-allegiance2.jpg
The complaints accuse Butte County Superior Court Judge Stephen Benson
and Tehama County Superior Court Judge John Garaventa of violating judicial
neutrality by improperly forcing their own religious and political beliefs
upon everyone in their courtrooms, including criminal defendants. Mayo
takes particular exception to the phrase "one nation under God" in the
31-word Pledge.
"For those who do not share the judges' religious belief that there
exists a God -- and who wish to instill and maintain non-monotheistic values
in their lives -- this intrudes into their right to be free of a government-sponsored
religion," Mayo wrote in complaints to the CJP and California Chief Justice
Ronald George.
"It is also a clear facial First Amendment violation that contravenes
every Establishment Clause principle that the U.S. Supreme Court has ever
enunciated."
Mayo's complaints ask that the CJP issue a cease-and-desist order and
require the judges to forgo their "daily religious and political indoctrination"
of those in court.
Mayo has also filed motions in both courts, demanding that Benson and
Garaventa "dispense with leading the defendants, defense counsel and others
in attendance in a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance." The hearing
before Benson is set for Sept. 14, while the one in front of Garaventa is
scheduled for Sept. 15.
The 58-year-old Benson, who was elected to the bench in 2000, couldn't
be reached on Tuesday, and Garaventa, a 53-year-old appointed in 1998
by then-Gov. Pete Wilson, declined comment.
However, Dennis Murray, the presiding judge in Tehama County Superior
Court to whom Mayo also complained, said he didn't think it was against
the law for a judge to lead the Pledge in a courtroom, and thought the propriety
of doing so is something that "reasonable minds can differ about."
"It's not a practice I engage in," he said, "but that doesn't mean
there's anything wrong with it."
Butte County Superior Court Presiding Judge Barbara Roberts couldn't
be reached.
Benson's courtroom in Oroville is about 60 miles southeast of Garaventa's
in Red Bluff, and Mayo -- owner of the Mayo Law Clinic, which specializes
in defending clients against criminal and administrative charges -- said
Tuesday that the Pledge routine is similar in both.
"The way it works," he said, "is the judge appears in court, the bailiff
advises everybody in the audience to rise and salute the flag, and engages
in the Pledge of Allegiance. We're being compelled to pledge our allegiance
to the government, and I don't think that's a subtle indoctrination."
In his complaint to the CJP, Mayo argues that the judges' recitation
is "coercively compelling" a criminal defendant to "confess his sins before
God and country" and, thereby, prejudicing his case.
Mayo's complaints contend that the Pledge in a courtroom is so coercive
that it could "give rise to a veritable constitutional challenge to every
guilty (or no contest) plea" heard by Benson and Garaventa.
"Simply put," Mayo wrote, "state-sponsored religion in a courtroom
is absolutely prohibited and neither the fact that the prayer may be denominationally
neutral nor the fact that its observance on the part of the defendant
attendees is questionably voluntary (although, we think not), can serve
to free it from the limitations of the Establishment Clause."
Victoria Henley, the CJP's director and chief counsel, couldn't confirm
the filing of Mayo's complaints because cases aren't public unless formal
charges are filed. But she said she wasn't aware of any complaint ever being
filed before regarding a judge's recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.
San Francisco lawyer Jonathan Arons, an expert on ethics, said Mayo's
complaints would be stronger if he pointed to some judicial canon that the
judges were violating. But even without that, he said, there is something
to be said about the apparently coercive nature of the judges' recitations.
"Here people are ordered [to participate]," he said, "so there may
well be something to the fact that the coercive nature of it -- and the
appearance of bias if you will -- may certainly be present.
"What if you don't stand? Is the judge going to hold it against you?"
Mayo said Tuesday that he has no particular religious or atheistic
leanings, but was baptized, confirmed and once married in a Christian
church. He also said he has no general personal feelings about the Pledge
of Allegiance, but definitely finds its recitation in a courtroom by a
sitting judge "particularly troublesome."
Mayo also said he's not worried about any consequences stemming from
challenging the judges.
"In situations of law or matters of truth," he said, "I have determined
it is far better to stand one's ground and, at the same time, possibly incur
the wrath of an irate judge than it is to get on bended knee and succumb
to the wishes of those wielding power -- judicial or otherwise."
from Law.com
Lawyer Lobs Complaints at Bench-Led Pledge
Wednesday August 25, 2:58 am ET
Mike McKee, The Recorder
*******************
CHICO, Calif. (AP) - A Butte County judge said he would continue reciting
the Pledge of Allegiance in his courtroom, despite a challenge from a
Chico lawyer.
Superior Court Judge Stephen Benson released an 11-page opinion Tuesday
defending his right to open each court session by turning to the flag and
reciting the pledge. Because it's not required, he said the daily ceremony
doesn't violate anyone's rights.
"The power to conduct such a ceremony is within the province of every
judge," Benson wrote.
Chico attorney William Mayo had complained that the phrase "one nation
under God" violated the constitutional separation of church and state.
The challenge comes three months after the U.S. Supreme Court tossed
out a challenge to the pledge by a Sacramento atheist who claimed his
rights were violated when his daughter was exposed to the pledge each morning.
The court did not rule on the constitutionality question because it said
the father didn't have standing in the court because of a custody dispute.
Mayo said he would probably file a federal civil rights suit to stop
Benson and Tehama County Superior Court Judge John Garaventa from leading
their courtrooms in the pledge. Mayo was scheduled to argue a similar case
Wednesday before Garaventa.
Mayo said that leading the court in an "allegiance to God and country"
strained "judicial neutrality." He also said those who chose not to participate
might appear to be protesters in the eyes of the judge or jurors.
On Tuesday, Mayo and one other man did not recite the pledge as the
judge led dozens of accused drunken drivers in the ritual.
******************
Superior Court Judge Stephen Benson
court's decision to dismiss suit over Pledge of Allegiance
By Associated Press, July 30, 2009
FARMINGTON, Mo. (AP) — A judge dismissed a lawsuit over the Pledge of Allegiance.
Last week, Judge Bernhardt Drumm Jr. dismissed a suit against another judge,
Kenneth Pratte of St. Francois County, over Pratte's practice of beginning
each day in court with the Pledge of Allegiance.
Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster defended Pratte in the suit filed
by Robert Stamm Sr. and Robert Stamm Jr. The men claimed a violation of their
First Amendment rights.
The Stamms did not have listed phone numbers. Their attorney did not return
a phone call seeking comment.
........................................
March 11, 2009 An attorney wrote:
My surreal moment of the day -
I was down in Edna, Texas this morning in the 24th Judicial District Court
on an aggravated assault/burglary case. Judge Skipper Cutter walked into
the courtroom, got up behind the bench and (I'm am so not kidding) asked
everyone in attendance to bow their heads while he said a prayer.
So much for the separation of church and state in South Texas.
After I commented to the attorney sitting next to me that I had never seen
anything quite like that, he said the judge used to make everyone recite
the Pledge of Allegiance.
Ain't no place like Jackson County.
............................
Another attorney wrote:
I had Skipper Koetter as a visitng judge on a capital
case in Victoria; he was much better than the judge he was sitting in for.
There's a judge in MoCo who has everyone in the courtroom
recite not only the Pledge of Allegiance, but also the Texas Flag Pledge
every morning at the beginning of proceedings:
"Honor the Texas flag; I pledge allegiance to thee,
Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible."
So we're supposed to swear loyalty to the opposing party
in a criminal case. Awkward!
.............................
Rage Judicata said...
Judge Bradshaw-Hull in County Civil Court No. 3, (and
the the 80th District Court after the commissioners ran her off for her
rulings in condemnation cases) used to do both the US and Texas pledges
every day--until she was ousted in the last election. Judge Cagle in Civil
No. 1 still does it during every voir dire.
