Posted on 07/14/2006 8:18:56 PM PDT by Mount Athos
Junior Stowers raised his hands and exclaimed, "Thank you, Jesus!" in court last month when he was acquitted by a jury of abusing his son.
But his joy was short-lived when Circuit Judge Patrick Border held him in contempt of court for the "outburst" and threw him in jail.
Stowers, 47, sat in the courtroom and a cellblock for about six hours until the judge granted him a hearing on the contempt charge and released him.
The judge at a July 7 hearing dropped the contempt charge, a petty misdemeanor that carries up to 30 days in jail.
Stowers couldn't be reached for comment. But his attorney in the contempt case, Deputy Public Defender Susan Arnett, said he wasn't treated fairly.
"I don't think there's anything about saying 'Thank you, Jesus' that rises to the level of contemptuous behavior in this case," she told The Honolulu Advertiser.
Stowers is a devoutly religious man active in his church who spontaneously expressed his thanks to the higher power in which he believed, she said.
Family members and Stowers' pastor at Assembly of God Church, Iakopo Sale, who watched from the gallery were "very upset that those words could land somebody in jail," Arnett said.
Border declined to comment but indicated the court minutes reflected his actions. The minutes showed he found Stowers' "nonverbal gestures and outbursts to be disruptive and improper regardless of content."
Court minutes said Border later dropped the charge because he realized Stowers' trial lawyer, Deputy Public Defender Carmel Kwock, did not have time to tell Stowers the judge had ordered both sides not to show emotion when the verdict was announced.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
The people that they serve, not reign over.
Add in U.S. Attorney positions too. Once you get a corrupt governor in, seems the first pocket the U.S. Attorney jumps into is the corrupt governors.
Nobody is saved until they draw their last breath, people gain faith, people lose faith. So read my post again, I did not say God judged him, but that he judged himself into hell, according to God's Word; "If you deny me, I will deny you before my Father in Heaven". Sure, Christ's persecutors can change, as did Saint Paul, and I hope and pray this anti-Christ 'judge' does. But his outrageous persecution of this poor man for simply proclaiming Christ's holy name in his wordly court makes his position on Christianity, and Jesus Christ very clear, right now at least.
I do hope this man is suing. His constitutionally protected freedom of religion was WAS restricted!
Border is active in various professional and community organizations, including the Inter Pacific Bar Association, American Bar Association, Association of Trial Lawyers of America, Consumer Lawyers of Hawai`i, Mediation Center of the Pacific, and the New Hope Christian Fellowship Prison Ministry. He was previously involved with the Asia Pacific Lawyers Association and Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Honolulu.
Jesus had nothing to do with it it and it was an inapproptiate outburst.
HONOLULU That explains it. Should have praised the goddess Pele.
I'm always very suspicious about this sort of situation, but I'm not ready to get on the judge. If he has never cited anyone else for this sort of outburst, or hhas only cited Christians, this is clearly persecution. If not, it's not.
Unless we have some evidence the judge singhled this guy out for his Christianity, we have no business calling this persecution. As servants of the Truth in human form, we have a duty to ensure that we're calling a spade a spade, not calling a heart a spade.
So, I guess you are fine with having to sit in a nasty jail cell for 6 hours because of the arrogant whim of an imperialist judge. I think the defendant should sue for false imprisonment. The defendant even offered to apologize for a ruling he didn't even know about until acting against it after-the-fact, but the judge apparently had some kind of personal issue re the defendant. Court rooms should NOT be used as the personal fiefdoms of judges. Any judge caught exhibiting subjective biases should be removed from the bench. I don't mean a judge should be removed for one incident, but if they exhibit an observed bias over an extended period, then they should be put up before a citizen's review board and removed if warranted.
Al Sharpton would be proud.
Exactly. And he himself realized it, although quite a bit later than he should have.
This defendant spent 6 hours of his life in a jail cell because he was NOT informed that the judge had issued a ruling to the lawyers re over-exuberant displays that was not passed on to the defending councilor's client.
I read it that way, as well.
In this case, if the judge had a problem, then he should have taken it out on the defending councilor{sic], but to declare that this is "simple" will never give that defendant his 6 hours of life back.
Well, I never claimed it would. Still, I think it's not as complicated as it's made out to be.
IMHO, there needs to be citizen review of judges making questionable decisions like this one. Judges are not gods, yet they often behave as if they are.
That wouldn't give him his six hours back, either, but might make him think twice next time.
How is it that this is now an "outrageous persecution"?
How is it that this judge has now "judged himself into Hell"?
Why is it you automatically assume that the judge did it for (anti-) religious reasons, rather than shut-the-heck-up-in-my-courtroom; I'm-fed-up-with-your-noise reasons?
If you have any evidence that this judge has "persecuted" anyone else for religious (or any other) reasons, then lay it on me.
Otherwise, it seems like you're just eager to be a victim.
Actually there are several reasons why. First of all, the man was indicted for spanking his child; something that is allowed and encouraged in Christian Scripture when the child needs it, and something that has had lots of tests in secular Courts. According to records, it was claimed that a broomstick handle and the child's behind met one another to the sound of a "thwap". (Sometimes I got much worse that that when I was a misbehaving child), and as soon as I was able to think and be honest, I realized I needed what I got.
So the actual charge itself appears to be an anti-Christian one where new-age government declares that not sparing the rod equals 'assault'. Stowers is a strong, active Christian. His pastor and five other church members attended the trial. So then, as the man was found innocent by a jury of his peers he rejoiced and proclaimed "Praise the Lord Jesus Christ". The judge took it as an insult because it was, (in reality) a case based on Mr. Stowers' parental rights as a Christian father. Even though the 'official' charge was 'assault', everyone in that Court knew that Mr. Stowers was exercising his Christian rights and duties, of which rights and duties were being taken to task in a secular court.
This judge is a biggott, from the top of his biggotted head to the bottom of his dirty black robe. Stowers won the case and the bigot judge just couldn't let him go away that easy, so he slapped him with an unfair, ridiculous "contempt" charge. Something inside me tells me that if Stowers had yelled out "Thank you Judge" instead of "Thank you Jesus", he wouldn't have been found to be in contempt.
So now it's not only an anti-Christian "contempt" charge, but the original abuse charge is anti-Christian?
I take it the police should have taken the boy's charge and said "Never mind, boy, it's doesn't matter - your dad is a Christian" ???
The judge took it as an insult because it was, (in reality) a case based on Mr. Stowers' parental rights as a Christian father.
Thanks for your special insights into "reality".
Even though the 'official' charge was 'assault', everyone in that Court knew that Mr. Stowers was exercising his Christian rights and duties, of which rights and duties were being taken to task in a secular court.
How is it that you know what "everyone knew" ??
This judge is a biggott[sic], from the top of his biggotted head to the bottom of his dirty black robe.
Again, how is it that you know this? Do you know him? Do you know of other cases involving him?
Stowers won the case and the bigot judge just couldn't let him go away that easy, so he slapped him with an unfair, ridiculous "contempt" charge. Something inside me tells me that if Stowers had yelled out "Thank you Judge" instead of "Thank you Jesus", he wouldn't have been found to be in contempt.
...or "thank you, Allah", or "Thank you Mohammed", or "Thank you Satan", or "Thank you Buddha", right? It's just Jesus he's got it in for, is that it?
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