The month of October has certainly started out with a bang when it comes to First Amendment issues. On Thursday, the Supreme Court heard the case against the Westboro Baptist Church and their protests at military funerals and earlier this week, a Mississippi judge jailed a lawyer who refused to recite the Pledge of Allegiance out loud in his courtroom:
Chancellor Talmadge Littlejohn ordered Lampley jailed shortly after court began in Tupelo this morning.
Eyewitnesses said Littlejohn asked the court audience to rise and repeat the pledge. Lampley rose but failed to vocalize the words to the pledge, an act he has done before, apparently to the judge's consternation.
Oh my -- what will those freedumb loving teabaggers think about this? As Alan Colmes points out over at his blog, Liberaland, the SCOTUS ruled back in the 1940s that a child cannot be forced to salute the flag or to recite the pledge. One would think adults would be covered under that ruling too, no?
Personally, I find it disturbing that anyone in this country could be jailed for choosing not to verbally recite the pledge. I understand that judges rule the roost in their courtroom, but this goes well beyond the pale. It should also be noted that Lampley is a constitutional lawyer, but according to this update, cannot sue the judge for his wrongful imprisonment. That...is a shame.
