Former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore was ultimately forced from the bench after decorating his courthouse, Taliban-style, with monuments to his religious beliefs. But while Moore was content to promote the Protestant version of the Ten Commandments with two-ton granite statues and hand-carved plaques, a fellow Alabama jurist has decided to kick things up a notch.
A south Alabama judge refused to delay a trial yesterday when an attorney objected to the judge’s wearing a judicial robe with the Ten Commandments embroidered in gold on the front of the garment.
Circuit Judge Ashley McKathan showed up on Dec. 13 at his Covington County courtroom in Andalusia wearing the robe at the start of a week of jury trials of cases that were being appealed from lower courts — mostly cases like driving under the influence and possession of marijuana.
Attorneys who try cases at the courthouse said they had not seen the judge wearing the robe previously. The commandments were described as being big enough to read on the robe by anyone near the judge, but not like eye-catching slogans on T-shirts.
Only in Alabama.
This could very well turn into another religious right culture war that could propel McKathan to Moore-like stardom, because at this point, the judge appears intent on keeping this little stunt up.
Indeed, some lawyers appearing in McKathan’s courtroom are politely objecting to the religious message on the judge’s attire. So far, he doesn’t care.
McKathan told the Associated Press that he believes the Ten Commandments represent the truth “and you can’t divorce the law from the truth.”
Yes, and the truth is sometimes you can’t divorce religious zealots from their theocratic agenda.
McKathan, though he may be too far gone to realize it, is creating an automatic grounds for appeal in every case he hears, which will only help bring more notoriety to his cause. Inevitably, McKathan will get sued, he’ll lose, and it’ll be up to him as to whether he wants to follow in Roy Moore’s footsteps in ignoring court orders he doesn’t like.
At this point, Moore thinks this is all a great idea.
Moore said yesterday he supported McKathan’s decision to wear the Ten Commandments robe.
“The recognition of the God who gave us the Ten Commandments is fundamental to an understanding of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. I applaud Judge McKathan. It is time for our judiciary to recognize the moral basis of our law,” Moore said.
As a rule, if a disgraced former judge who was thrown off the court because of multiple ethics violations thinks your stunt is a great idea, it’d be wise to do the opposite.