Lawyer Jailed For Refusing To Recite Pledge

JACKSON, MISS—A Mississippi lawyer has been jailed after a judge found him in contempt when he declined to recite the pledge of allegiance.

Chancery Judge Talmadge Littlejohn jailed attorney Danny Lampley, 49, on Wednesday.

Lampley was in court representing a client in a divorce case.  He was released after spending about five hours in jail so he could represent another client, according to the judge.

The ACLU of Mississippi says the state may not constitutionally compel anyone to recite the pledge of allegiance against his or her conscience. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution protects an individual’s right not to speak, as well as to speak. The ACLU-MS has called on Judge Talmadge to honor the First Amendment rights of individuals in his courtroom.

“In America, patriotism is best exemplified by exercising our constitutional freedoms, including freedom of conscience,” said Nsombi Lambright, ACLU of Mississippi Executive Director. “You can love your country and decline to say the pledge. True patriots don’t jail people for exercising their constitutional freedoms.”

“The right to be free from state-coerced oaths is a fundamental constitutional protection,” said Bear Atwood, interim legal director for the ACLU of Mississippi. “This issue usually comes up in a school context, and courts have repeatedly and resoundingly upheld the right of students not to recite the pledge of allegiance. A judge has no more right to order an attorney in his court to recite the pledge than a teacher does in a classroom.”

In his order, Littlejohn, 70, wrote that “Lampley shall purge himself of said criminal contempt by complying with the order of this court by standing and reciting the pledge of allegiance in open court”.

The compelled-speech issue seemed to have been resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court more than 60 years ago with its landmark 1943 decision West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette . Despite the decision allowing students to opt out of saying the pledge, children have been punished for refusing to stand during or to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

In March 1998, a 13-year-old Jehovah’s Witness in a Seattle middle school was forced to stand outside in the rain for 15 minutes for refusing to say the pledge. In April 1998, a 16-year-old student in San Diego was forced to serve detention for her failure to recite the pledge.

Littlejohn is running for reelection unopposed.  10-11-10

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