YET MORE stupid shit to come out of Alabama, a province of Jesusland

dotadave · Dec 17, 2004

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&ncid=519&e=20&u=/ap/20041215/ap_on_re_us/ten_commandments_robe

A judge refused to delay a trial Tuesday when an attorney objected to his wearing a judicial robe with the Ten Commandments embroidered on the front in gold. Circuit Judge Ashley McKathan showed up Monday at his Covington County courtroom in southern Alabama wearing the robe. Attorneys who try cases at the courthouse said they had not seen him wearing it before. The commandments were described as being big enough to read by anyone near the judge.

Attorney Riley Powell, defending a client charged with DUI, filed a motion objecting to the robe and asking that the case be continued. He said McKathan denied both motions. "I feel this creates a distraction that affects my client," Powell said.

McKathan told The Associated Press that he believes the Ten Commandments represent the truth "and you can't divorce the law from the truth. ... The Ten Commandments can help a judge know the difference between right and wrong." He said he doesn't believe the commandments on his robe would have an adverse effect on jurors. "I had a choice of several sizes of letters. I purposely chose a size that would not be in anybody's face," he said.

The case raised comparisons to former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, who was removed from office in 2003 for refusing to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of the Alabama Judicial Building in Montgomery. Moore said Tuesday he supports McKathan's decision to wear the Ten Commandments robe. "I applaud Judge McKathan. It is time for our judiciary to recognize the moral basis of our law," Moore said. Powell said if he loses his case, he expects the judge's wearing of the Ten Commandments robe to be part of an appeal.
Click to expand...

But wait there is more...

Judge's robe gets national attention
McKathan's office is getting supportive phone calls from all over the country
Thursday, December 16, 2004
By CONNIE BAGGETT
Staff Reporter
ANDALUSIA -- Two days after Presiding Circuit Court Judge Ashley McKathan donned a robe in court displaying the Ten Commandments on his chest, staffers were busy fielding calls from media outlets and supporters across the nation.

"We've had calls from Texas, Washington state, Arkansas, California, New Jersey and Tennessee, plus the local calls," explained McKathan's secretary, Susan Sansom, looking over a legal pad listing the callers early on Wednesday. "Every one of them is supportive of what the judge has done. We have not had a single complaint called in."

Then there were media calls from local papers, radio and television and even the CNN and MSNBC cable news networks. The south Alabama judge seemed a bit surprised at how quickly word of his gold-lettered robe traveled.

"This is only the third day," he said, smiling and still wearing the robe during a break in court proceedings. "I expected a little stir, but I never dreamed it would go so far so fast."

But it has, and that is part of the problem, according to some attorneys, including Riley Powell, who is trying a case before McKathan and has two others on the docket in the coming days.

"I objected to the robe because the news media attracted by it has been a distraction in this case," Powell said Wednesday. "Even though the judge warned them not to read papers or listen to the news media, this morning at least half had seen the news and read accounts of the issue -- it was on Rick and Bubba's radio show this morning and on 'Paul Harvey.' Some had even been called by the media.

"The judge asked them and they all said they could still give my client a fair trial. I hope so."

McKathan's secretary said he decided somewhere around the end of October to order the robe, paying for it with his own money. He then hired a local seamstress to embroider the Ten Commandments in bold letters on the front, she said.

McKathan said he even shopped for a robe with fewer pleats to better accommodate the sewing.

The judge said he wants the scriptural foundation of modern law to be acknowledged. Without the biblical "truth" he said, "there is no law."

With reporters asking for interviews at a steady clip, his message is getting out.

Law center outraged:

"It is outrageous," said Richard Cohen, an attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center who participated in prior Ten Commandments cases. "If people came to us wanting to take legal action, we would look at it. It seems to be an issue of his religious beliefs, and he is inviting people to sue him."

McKathan said he is not looking forward to any court battles about the issue, but will be prepared to defend himself should it happen.

"Certainly I wanted to make a point," McKathan said. "I think it is important to keep the issue before the people."

Alabama drew national attention last year when former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore had a washing machine-sized granite monu ment placed in the rotunda of the building housing the court in Montgomery. When he defied a federal court order to remove the display, he refused and was ultimately removed from office.

Moore argued that he was only "acknowledging God" and was supported by the state's constitution. Moore released a statement Tuesday supporting McKathan's actions.

Most people in Andalusia's downtown interviewed Wednesday supported McKathan and his stand. Residents said they respect authority, but at the same time admire people brave enough to buck authority for causes they champion.

"I read about it in the paper," said Shannon Thomas, who lives in nearby Sanford. "It's true the laws we have today are based on the Ten Commandments. But there is a difference in sinning and breaking the law. I really don't think there is anything wrong with him doing it. As long as he's going by the law, what he's got on his robe isn't going to affect anything."

Andalusia is a well-kept town McKathan described as "well-grounded" with Christmas displays featuring snowflakes, Santa and trees in the town square. A monument to fallen policemen featured a scriptural reference, but the only other religious signage invited motorists to "honk if you love the newborn king" -- posted by a religious radio station on a building.

Here, many people said, McKathan is a well-respected, even beloved homegrown son.

Family friend Fred Kelley Sr. said he knew 46-year-old McKathan's father and grandfather as "the finest people you ever have met." McKathan, he said, is of the same caliber. "If you are looking for something bad about him, you won't find it."

'He's a good man':

Kelley's son, Fred, is the pastor at Pleasant Home Baptist Church, where McKathan is an active member. Kelley's other son, James, grew up with McKathan.

"He's a good man," James Kelley said. "I graduated from Pleasant Home School and went on to Troy (State University). He went on to the University of Alabama and got his law degree there. He worked laying tile to put himself through school. He works hard in the church.

"People here think so well of him he never has opposition when he runs for office," James Kelley said.

McKathan began practicing law in 1982. He has served 13 years as a circuit judge, first running for office as a Democrat, but changing to an independent for the last election.

Friends said the judge was devastated when his wife, Susan, died in May after an illness. The couple had one son in high school and two daughters from Susan's previous marriage.

"When we had the funeral, there was no room for everyone in the church," James Kelley said. "It's just a small country church with about 120 members. I think the church helped him through the death of his wife. He has a lot of friends, and he's got many good qualities. We all support him."

But at least a few defendants with cases scheduled for the coming days questioned their ability to get a fair trial with a national controversy swirling around the judge.

"Why now with my case before him?" asked a man charged with driving under the influence. He asked that his name not be used. "Why would this judge court controversy? In my opinion, a stone monument in the hallway would be better than wearing it in the courtroom."
Click to expand...

The 10 Commandments one is bad, but still a vast improvement over some of the previous robes worn by Alabama natives.

dotadave · Dec 17, 2004

I mean, what the hell is wrong with this country? I have never seen a geographic region so full of retards and hatemongers exporting their retardation.

Ole_Goat · Dec 17, 2004

The second article noted the State's Supreme court forced the removal of a momument devoted to the 10 Commandments from in front of a courthouse. It isn't much a stretch to believe a judge's courtroom attire is not excempt from the ruling.

Even so, I don't think its the entire country doing this. This affliction seems to be quarentined in Alabama. Maybe theres something in the water.

Soulless||Chaos · Dec 17, 2004

OMFG this place (alabama, I live here ) is so fucking stupid!

Ole_Goat · Dec 17, 2004

Soulless||Chaos said:

OMFG this place (alabama, I live here ) is so fucking stupid!
Click to expand...

So...Has the water tasted a little different lately?

element7 · Dec 17, 2004

I keep thinking of that Primus song ..... here they come, here they come. Wacko nutjobs like that should be removed from office but instead they have flurries of supportive phone calls. the jeebus militia.

Ole_Goat · Dec 17, 2004

He's probably going to get slapped down by some sort of judicial review. Either he removes the the 10 Commandents or he looses his job. This incident will be resovled in about 6 months.

As for the supportive calls, famous serial killers get fan mail and marriage proposials.

Soulless||Chaos · Dec 17, 2004

Wouldn't know, I have a filter... But there sure are a lot of damn churches and fanatics and such...

dotadave · Dec 17, 2004

If there has ever been a region of the world where "They hate us for our freedom" has been applicable it would be the american south. They kept blacks in chains and fought a war against the north to keep them that way. Nowadays they fight a cultural war against gays, feminists, non-christians, and all the proggressive gains blacks made in the civil rights movement. From the emancipation of blacks to reproductive choice to religious freedom, they have time after time shown what hatemongers they are and a hostility to proggressive social change from repression. So backwards is their culture that it is a wonder they and the islamic radicals aren't best friends.

In short, fuck bible thumping southerners and their racist "heritage."

Soulless||Chaos · Dec 17, 2004

Well really the war was about states rights, but yeah, the south sucks...

Kandahar · Dec 18, 2004

Fuck the south. Why the hell haven't the blue states seceded from the US yet? Put the issue on my ballot and I'll happily vote for it. Maybe then we can be a part of a country governed by rational policies based in science, instead of a wannabe theocracy.

Soulless||Chaos · Dec 18, 2004

Why haven't they seceded? I believe perhaps because they established, in the civil war, that states do not have the right to do that... Haha...

Kandahar · Dec 18, 2004

Nah. I think the only reason there was support in the North for the Civil War was because of the issue of slavery, which they felt was a moral imperative.

If a state or group of states wanted to secede today, I think the dominant feeling in the rest of the US would be "Fine, good luck being your own country." I certainly don't think the American people would want to fight another civil war to keep certain states in the union against their will.

Soulless||Chaos · Dec 18, 2004

They just want people to think the major cause of the civil war was slavery, as it makes them (the north) look good and justified and such...

Kandahar · Dec 18, 2004

Soulless||Chaos said:

They just want people to think the major cause of the civil war was slavery, as it makes them (the north) look good and justified and such.
Click to expand...

Well the causes of the war were different depending on which perspective you're viewing it from. People who say that states' rights was the central issue of the Civil War are absolutely correct...most southerners truly did believe that the will of the states trumped the will of the federal government. Similarly, people who say that slavery was the central issue of the Civil War are absolutely correct...most northerners supported the Civil War not because they had any love for the federal government, but because they felt slavery was a moral evil that could not continue to exist in the country.

So from the perspective of the establishment country (the north), I don't think it's unreasonable to conclude that slavery was the central issue.

Sera Michele · Dec 18, 2004

Is it just me or are we actually going back in time, culturally speaking. And what the hell is up with Alabama? They all must have just gotten cable TV or the internet or something, because man are they pissed at the world. I'm guessing it's now that they got more than Faux news to watch.

Soulless||Chaos · Dec 18, 2004

Hehe yeah, most people here never turn their tvs from fox... (Like they get any other channels on their antennas anyway... ) Most get their news there, or from their 'congregations' This truly is an ignorant place....

Log in or Sign up

YET MORE stupid shit to come out of Alabama, a province of Jesusland

dotadave Member

dotadave Member

Ole_Goat Member

Soulless||Chaos SelfInducedExistence

Ole_Goat Member

element7 Random fool

Ole_Goat Member

Soulless||Chaos SelfInducedExistence

dotadave Member

Soulless||Chaos SelfInducedExistence

Kandahar Banned

Soulless||Chaos SelfInducedExistence

Kandahar Banned

Soulless||Chaos SelfInducedExistence

Kandahar Banned

Sera Michele Senior Member

Soulless||Chaos SelfInducedExistence

Log in or Sign up

YET MORE stupid shit to come out of Alabama, a province of Jesusland

dotadave Member

dotadave Member

Ole_Goat Member

Soulless||Chaos SelfInducedExistence

Ole_Goat Member

element7 Random fool

Ole_Goat Member

Soulless||Chaos SelfInducedExistence

dotadave Member

Soulless||Chaos SelfInducedExistence

Kandahar Banned

Soulless||Chaos SelfInducedExistence

Kandahar Banned

Soulless||Chaos SelfInducedExistence

Kandahar Banned

Sera Michele Senior Member

Soulless||Chaos SelfInducedExistence

Useful Searches