Two years ago, in the courthouse of Sarpy County, Nebraska, a 25-year-old man named Aaron Pattno admitted that he had sexually assaulted a 13-year-old boy. George A. Thompson, the district judge hearing the case, sentenced Pattno to serve 20 months to 5 years in prison. And that, as they say, was that.
Or rather, that wasn't that, because Judge Thompson happened to quote the Bible while delivering the sentence. Specifically Romans I: 20-27, though he didn't say where the quotation was from. He wasn't instructing a jury or speaking to anyone who might be swayed against the defendant by hearing those dangerous words. He just quoted the Bible.
And that really was that. The Nebraska Supreme Court promptly swished back its skirts in horror, rescinding the sentence and declaring, "If a judge's comments during sentencing could cause a reasonable person to question the impartiality of the judge, then the defendant has been deprived of due process and the judge has abused his or her discretion."
Nebraska state attorney general Don Stenberg rather foolishly tried to appeal, arguing that the decision will allow any participant in a legal proceeding "to investigate and inquire into a judge's religious beliefs in order to disqualify the judge or to have a conviction or sentence set aside." On Jan 11, 1999, the U.S. Supreme Court refused without comment to hear the appeal. Pattno was resentenced by a different judge to four years' probation.
Asked by an AP reporter about what message the higher court was sending, Judge Thompson said, "I guess it's 'Don't quote the Bible.'" The question this seems to raise is, who will save this honorable court?