US District Judge Threatened
During the 1960's many federal judges had to seek safety because they enforced constitutional law regarding integration in Southern states. These Southern judges did not necessarily advocate integration. Instead, they were simply fulfilling their duty to enforce the law as it had already been decided by a higher court.
Our own Judge Fred Biery has received many threats since he issued an order prohibiting prayer at a Medina High School graduation. See San Antonio Express News report. US Marshalls have placed him on 24/7 protection.
I find this all ironic since based on what I read in the Express News, it appears to me that Judge Biery complied with the law on prayer in schools and he actually advised the school district on how to make their prayers more in line with the law. Mention your personal belief, without calling on others to believe as you do, he advised. He also suggested they avoid the words "benediction" and "convocation." The school district took his advice and they later succeeded when they appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Judges very rarely issue legal advice. Judge Biery was clearly trying to help the plaintiffs. For that, he must fear for his safety. That is an issue in Iraq. The judges there too often bend to pressure from well placed persons regarding terrorists. Don't even mention Mexico and the state of their judiciary.
We should be thankful for judges like Fred Biery. I have no idea what Judge Biery's theology is. But, I am sure he simply felt he was enforcing the law as it had already been decided by a higher court. That is his duty as a US District Judge.
Tom,
Threatening, or even planning to threaten ANYONE, much less a federal judge is despicable. However, the judge didn't just apply the law. In his decision he took his enforcement order to an aggressive level, threatening to incarcerate anyone including school officials if they didn't actively participate in enforcing his decision.
This type of hostility is what in my opinion, generates the threats.
We are at a turning point in our self governance. Judges, of late, have not reflected an understanding that they do not rule via fiat but rather by consent of the governed.
The will of the majority is time and again being subverted to the whim of a legal opinion that more often than not, has been structured to advocate for an opposing view. Throughout history this type of enforcement has not been sustained.
It will not continue to be countenanced in this incarceration either.
Looks like we have two different opinions of the opinion. This is why one must investigate the fact themselves to judge appropriately. Prayer in schools is a hot topic, and we are a divided nation.