The Power of Prayer

[Paula]

Hmmm - could the attorney actually be trying to blame the Judge's prayer for causing the hung jury? Perhaps he does believe in the power of prayer after all! ;)

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Attorney Complains About Judge's Practice of Prayer
Says Practice is Unfair to Clients
June 9, 2004



ORLANDO, Fla. -- An attorney has complained about an Orange County judge's habit of opening daily proceedings with a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance, saying the practice is unfair to his clients.


Attorney Steve Mason said Circuit Judge Frederick Pfeiffer offered only Christian prayers, indicating a "blatant sponsoring of religion," and set a tone that hurt his Canadian clients' case. [:scratch: ]*


His clients "felt compelled to participate" in the pledge, fearing they would otherwise offend jurors, Mason said.



"What else could you do?" said Philip Furtney, one of the defendants, who said he simply stood at attention with his hand over his heart. "If you're Canadian, you can't pledge allegiance to the United States flag."


Pfeiffer, 78, said a prayer and the pledge have been part of his court proceedings since 1973, but he stopped referring to Jesus after being admonished by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in 1984.


"I have had any number of people compliment me and say, 'We appreciate the nice tone you set for the trial,'" he said.


Pfeiffer, who had a silver "Try God" pin stitched into his robe, said he used the phrase "Jesus Christ, our Lord" in one opening prayer during the recent eight-day civil trial.


"That slipped out. Sometimes something slips out, and you wish you could take your words back," Pfeiffer said. "I wouldn't want to offend anybody."


The case, in which the state is suing Furtney and a partner over a bingo hall leasing operation they ran in the mid-1990s, ended in a hung jury. Mason has asked for the case to be assigned to a different judge, and Pfeiffer did not object. [So what's the problem?]*


Pfeiffer, a former chief judge for the Orange-Osceola Circuit, was pulled from retirement to help sitting judges manage a heavy caseload.

http://www.local6.com/news/3399932/detail.html


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* Bracketed commentary my own.

[kdet]

IMO Paula this is just more people trying to bend all of us to be "poltically correct" and hope we don't offend ANYONE. It's the Judge's court room and if he wants to have prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance then by golly he should be allowed to without anyone complaining...sheesh.

[Paula]

Of course, there is clearly no way the judge's prayer could have hurt the Canadian's case. What struck me as ironic about this story is the fact we encourage foreigners to freely transact their business in the U.S. and reap the profits of a capitalist society. But yet, by the same token, should it become necessary for them to go to court, the first thing they do is find fault with something and holler discrimination. I'm sure if the verdict in this case had been favorable to the Canadian, there would have been no protests.

[kdet]

Of course, there is clearly no way the judge's prayer could have hurt the Canadian's case. What struck me as ironic about this story is the fact we encourage foreigners to freely transact their business in the U.S. and reap the profits of a capitalist society. But yet, by the same token, should it become necessary for them to go to court, the first thing they do is find fault with something and holler discrimination. I'm sure if the verdict in this case had been favorable to the Canadian, there would have been no protests.
You are probably right, Paula. What I found to be really interesting was the fact that the article even mentioned prayer when the protest seemed to revolve more around a Canadian having to say the Pledge. Christianity just seems to always be under fire...but in some ways that is good. Calling attention to things liek this is a witness for God, I guess?

[Paula]

Some good points, kdet. According to the second and third paragraphs of the story, it looks like the lawyer objected to both the prayer and the pledge, although the Canadian wasn't obligated to recite the Pledge, he chose to anyway, I guess to impress the jury. Regardless, the whole story reeks of sour grapes and was probably just a publicity stunt to take pot-shots at our Christian heritage. So typical of the separationists.