October 7, 2010
DOCUMENT: Stupid, Crime

Lawyer Jailed Over Pledge Refusal

Mississippi judge hits attorney with contempt charge

View Document

Pledge Refusal

Submit a Tip!

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 mug shots at right, 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)

Pledge Refusal

TAGS

Pledge of Allegiance, Mississippi

Comments (72)

Submitted by JimmmyTheKnife on Thu, 2010-10-07 11:35.
Everyone knows that there IS NO freedom of expression within a court of law. What do you think 'contempt of court' is all about? This is a given. It is a veritable 'kingdom of the judge' in there - - and I think that's fine.
Submitted by mrdskna on Thu, 2010-10-07 11:50.
Apparently you missed the F**k this court t-shirt worn in open cort and the suppreme court decision that followed.
Submitted by Dr. Acula on Thu, 2010-10-07 11:32.
"all the judge asks is to respect the nation that provides your security to allow you to have free speech." Yeah, let's all thank the government for providing "security" to us at the low cost of 50%* of our income and then threatening to shoot or kidnap us if we don't pay up. And then if we get mugged on the street, they can't actually protect us. *I'm not sure how much really. Along with myriad taxes, you have to take into account counterfeiting, viz. the destruction of 95% of the dollar's value since 1913, caused by printing presses, to see how much our government costs.
Submitted by sethw74 on Thu, 2010-10-07 11:28.
@ eneal10, I really hope POST87's comments was trying to be a little 'tongue in cheek'. People really cannot be so dumb to talk about how nice it is to have constitutional rights in the same sentences as they talk about how nice it is to have a judge trample on those rights.
Submitted by TxBigfoot on Thu, 2010-10-07 11:26.
you socialist morons forget one thing you are ordered to stand when the judge/Jury enters the room and you are not allowed to sit until told. This moron did not despite the pledge issue. So you guys can now shut up.
Submitted by Thompson1928 on Thu, 2010-10-07 11:21.
Any day a judge puts a lawyer in jail is a good day!
Submitted by tpp on Thu, 2010-10-07 11:20.
There is NO freedom of speech in a court of law.
Submitted by eneal10 on Thu, 2010-10-07 11:10.
POST87, your post is a little schizophrenic. Not reciting the pledge is a form of constitutionally protected free speech.
Submitted by Spagandy on Thu, 2010-10-07 11:07.
TeaBag Judge
Submitted by NomadTrash on Thu, 2010-10-07 13:43.
The judge ran for political office in 1996 as a Democrat.
Submitted by Jack Bauer on Thu, 2010-10-07 11:40.
Douche Bagger comment!
Submitted by TxBigfoot on Thu, 2010-10-07 11:24.
your an idiot how do you know that? Prove it after you crawl out from your rock
Submitted by Elmo Fipple on Thu, 2010-10-07 11:05.
It has always amazed me that those who want to defend the right of free speech do not want to see people excersize that right. And those who want to use the right of free speech do not want to defend it by fighting for that right.
Submitted by JGT4 on Thu, 2010-10-07 11:04.
Depends what Pledge of Allegiance the Judge is referring to. Today, we got Judges on the bench who Pledge Allegiance to everything but the United States.
Submitted by ray88ss on Thu, 2010-10-07 11:01.
Maybe he knows that the united States is no longer a country. In the Bretton Woods agreement of 1944, the united States became a corporation. That ls the reason Obama does not need a birth certificate, he is the CEO of the corporation and does not neet a certificate of birth to be a CEO.
Submitted by Gorbud on Thu, 2010-10-07 10:53.
It is my understanding that the Supreme Court has decided about the obligation to say the pledge. Even school children of particular religious affilations, political objections and greencard holders can choose not to particapate. Guess this judge thinks Supreme Court rulings stop at the Mississippi border. Kind of like civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s. Mississippi seems very sloooow on the up take.
Submitted by Jack Bauer on Thu, 2010-10-07 11:57.
It is my understanding that the Supreme Court has decided about the obligation not to display the 10 Commandments in a "public" -- yet it is on display at the Supreme Court. Odd huh?
Submitted by ttowntom on Thu, 2010-10-07 10:52.
I think the lawyer's an a** also, but it's supposed to be a free country. A judge should not have this sort of authority over people.
Submitted by Chuck D. on Thu, 2010-10-07 10:48.
Hooray for a patriotic judge. Lampley should lose his license to practice in America. Let him go to another country he wishes to practice law...maybe Sharia law is to his liking..
Submitted by TheHellbinder on Thu, 2010-10-07 19:07.
Patriotism will get you no where on the Day of the Lord. Jesus is not going to look at you and go.. oh.. your a citizen of the United States.. your the good guys,.. you all wait over here. NO. On the Day of the Lord the entire world will be judged and all nations will be layed waste. The only alegience that will mater is your personal alegience to the Messiah. receive Gods free gift and free pardon for sins now, and receive eternal life and an inheritance beyond imagination, or face the music when the Lord closed the door on this period of grace. The worship of this country has to stop.
Submitted by POST87 on Thu, 2010-10-07 10:48.
Way to go judge. Can you cite that liberal idiot brossow too? Get some decency back into the court system; all the judge asks is to respect the nation that provides your security to allow you to have free speech.
Submitted by brossow on Thu, 2010-10-07 10:38.
Time for Littlejohn to be removed from the bench.
April 19, 2024
DOCUMENT: Sex, Crime

Woman Busted For Seeking Threesome
Police: Suspect, 31, forced her way into neighbor's apartment

  1. DOCUMENT: Woman Busted For Seeking Threesome

  2. DOCUMENT: Woman Called Cops Over Bad Batch Of Meth

  3. BUSTER: Texas Mom Went On Cruise, Left Young Kids Home Alone, Cops Charge

  4. DOCUMENT: Friday Photo Fun Match Game

  5. DOCUMENT: Man Found Drunk, Naked, Sitting In Garbage Can