Atheists on Jury Duty in Alabma

[JOHN LOFTON]

John Lofton, Editor, TheAmericanView.com
Recovering Republican

"Accursed is that peace of which revolt from God is the bond, and blessed are those contentions by which it is necessary to maintain the kingdom of Christ." -- John Calvin.

 


 

-----Original Message-----
From: Douglas Laycock <laycockd at umich.edu>
To: religionlaw at lists.ucla.edu
Sent: Thu, 24 Apr 2008 3:15 pm
Subject: Re: Atheists on Jury Duty in Alabma










Well, it's clearly unconstitutional, as you say.? Torcaso v. Watkins (US
1961) says government can't require affirmation of belief in God to be a notary
public.? Jury member should be no different.? And we have provided alternate
forms of oath for religious objectors since the 18th century.? Everyone gets to
swear or affirm; the option to affirm was written for Quakers, but it should be
available for you too.? 

But it might be very hard to set this up as a
case a court could decide.? Do you sue somebody for an injunction to make sure
it doesn't happen again?? Well, what are the odds you will be called again??
What are the odds the next judge and the next pair of lawyers would react the
same way?? This seems like a pretty idiosyncratic event.? So you might not be
able to get an injunction.

It might even be that Alabama law provides that
jurors can affirm instead of swear, and that this judge didn't know that or just
ignored it.? Or didn't think it applied to you.

Do you sue for damages for
not being on the jury?? What damages?? Your time was given back to you.? Were
you humiliated?? Suffer emotional distress?? It has to be significant, not just
a momentary upset.? Maybe you could you sue for $1 in nominal damages as a way
of presenting the issue.? But the judge and the prosecutor are absolutely immune
from any suit for damages.? That leaves only the defense lawyer, and he will
claim that he should be immune too.? He's not even a government?actor.

So
there's a good chance that the court will never reach the merits of your
claim.

If you use your own name, you have to be prepared for a terrific
amount of public abuse and hate mail; you will make yourself notorious.? The
court might let?you sue as Jane Doe, and that usually provides substantial
protection, but people will try to figure out who you are, and they may
succeed.



Quoting CAROL MOORE <alclegal at bellsouth.net>:

>
>
> I have been rejected as a juror, just this week,
after having been selected
> and seated because, when I approached the
Circuit Court Judge about my
> inability to say the oath with "so
help me god" at the end of it, he asked
> the prosecutor and
defense attorney to vote on it (and this is after opening
> arguments,
mind you).? I stated my willingness to serve and to talk an
>
alternative oath.? The defense attorney refused, saying he could not have a
> juror who did not believe in god (the case was drunk & disorderly,
resisting
> arrest).? I was removed (which, if one is actually looking
for way to duck
> jury duty, this one was easy).? My question to you
all, besides being an
> obvious violation the US Constitution, is this
worth pursuing?
> Carol Moore, list reader
>
>
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Douglas Laycock
Yale Kamisar
Collegiate Professor of Law
University of Michigan Law School
625 S.
State St.
Ann Arbor, MI? 48109-1215
? 734-647-9713



 





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