Religion, Justice and Law bowing to the Constitution.
As a young Los Angeles Public Defender, every day going to court to represent twenty-five juvenile delinquents between twelve and sixteen years old, accused of crimes ranging from assault to petty theft, I worked in a court, not presided over but ruled over by a Judge who come Sunday, donned a robe of a different sort where not the eyes of the law, but the eyes of the lord, watched over him. Often this Judge and I didn’t agree, arguing and battling about everything from the severity of his sentences to whether or not I could merely pass through his courtroom doors without wearing a suit jacket. However, one of his strengths, I confess, was his strong moral sense that undoubtedly was rooted in his firm religious convictions, a sense that is sometimes hard to identify in judges with a more secular orientation.
Every day, before court had even begun, this judge had one habit that in particular, which caused me to pause in constitutional anguish.
While each morning most Judges ascend to their bench and begin by taking a case file from their clerk, this Judge ascended to the bench like he was taking to his Sunday pulpit, bowing his head in deep meditative prayer and receding to his own divine space for a minute, while we all sat waiting for the cue that the business of the day, the business of law, was to begin.
By law he could not openly worship in Court or preach to the accused and assembled attorney’s who during his strange meditative interlude, treaded uncomfortably in waters that divide Church from State. The Establishment Clause of our Constitution prohibits judges from leading worship in their courtrooms.
Americans are inculcated in a mantra of Church-State separation, but often our lives are filled with both legal and religious pursuits that result in this separation being not well defined. The same people that are leaders in our political and legal institutions often are also our pastors and ministers.
As a young staff assistant, working for a Washington D.C. congressman, my bosses day job was making law for constituents, but come Sunday he was a Baptist minister and made prayer for the congregation.
These experiences came to mind when recently a Rabbi contacted me for help erecting a menorah, the Jewish seasonal holiday symbol, which he wanted to stand side by side a Christmas tree, upon public property.
The Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution prevents the government from giving one religion preference over another. As a result, our court’s are called upon to officiate between symbols which are religious, and which should not be given preference on public property, and those which are secular, which have such widespread acceptance within society so as to be considered Constitutionally inoffensive. Finding the dividing line between what is secular and what is religious, can prove difficult. This subtle distinction can even be affected by societal changes so that, a practice that may have offended the Constitution in the past, would today be considered appropriate for placement in the public domain.
Unfortunately, the ability of citizens and their representatives to predict what symbols will offend and which others will not, is very difficult. Who would guess that a crèche and a menorah are merely traditional secular holiday symbols and therefore permissible in the public arena as secular? Such legal understandings fly in the face of common thought.
That government becomes an arbiter of what is an acceptable religious symbol or thought and what is unacceptable, seems to run counter to our common political philosophy. I think it best that if the government is going to erect any temporary religious monuments, then it should be open to erecting those of all viewpoints. The strength of our community comes in large part from the diversity of thought and our willingness to accept others on their own terms.
Bruce Brown is a licensed attorney and practices law in Idaho Springs. He is also a candidate for District Attorney. He can be reached at bruce@brucebrownlaw.com.
Bruce Brown, Attorney
Post Office Box 3366 ~ 1630 Miner Street ~ Idaho Springs, CO 80452
Tel. (970) 722-7778 or (303) 567-0111 ~ Toll free (866) 999-9529 ~ FAX (303) 567-9306 - Sitemap
Email: info@brucebrownlaw.com
