Judge jails attorney for refusing to recite Pledge of Allegiance

For what it's worth, I totally support the attorney in this matter and find the judge is out of order.

No citizen is or should be required to recite the pledge of allegiance. It is and should be a voluntary act, individually, or as a member of a group. To compel recitation is the same as a reversal of Freedom of Speech, requiring someone to say something s/he prefers not to say or recite.

I typically do not participate in reciting the pledge of allegiance. Why? I've made the pledge. Dozens of times. Until such time as I rescind that pledge, I figure my pledge is good forever and to expect me to constantly restate it is silly.

We eccentric folks sometimes think this way.

Lawyer Jailed Over Pledge Refusal

Mississippi judge hits attorney with criminal contempt rap

OCTOBER 7--A Mississippi judge yesterday jailed a lawyer who refused to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in his courtroom.

Attorney Danny Lampley, 49, was taken into custody Wednesday morning after Chancellor Talmadge Littlejohn cited him for criminal contempt of court for failing to recite the 31-word pledge at the outset of the morning’s proceedings at the Lee County courthouse.

An October 6 order signed by Talmadge notes that Lampley was being charged for his “failure to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance as ordered.” Lampley, the judge added, “shall purge himself of said criminal contempt…by standing and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in open court.”

Lampley, pictured in the above mug shot, was jailed for nearly five hours before Littlejohn ordered his release so that the lawyer could be present for a “previously set hearing before the Court.” The attorney, no longer in stripes, returned to the Tupelo courthouse after being sprung from jail.

It is unclear whether Lampley, who does not believe citizens are required to recite the pledge, will again be sanctioned by Littlejohn if he takes a pass on the pledge. (2 pages)