The Pennsylvania State Director of American Atheists, Inc., Mr. Ernest Perce V., was assaulted by a Muslim while participating in a Halloween parade. Along with a Zombie Pope, Ernest was costumed as Zombie Muhammad. The assault was caught on video, the Muslim man admitted to his crime and charges were filed in what should have been an open-and-shut case. That’s not what happened, though.
The defendant is an immigrant and claims he did not know his actions were illegal, or that it was legal in this country to represent Muhammad in any form. To add insult to injury, he also testified that his 9 year old son was present, and the man said he felt he needed to show his young son that he was willing to fight for his Prophet.
The case went to trial, and as circumstances would dictate, Judge Mark Martin is also a Muslim. What transpired next was surreal. The Judge not only ruled in favor of the defendant, but called Mr. Perce a name and told him that if he were in a Muslim country, he’d be put to death.
Even if Judge Martin was right on the law in dismissing the assault charges and refusing to allow the video to be admitted into evidence (and I’m not arguing he was), his admonishment to Perce was way out of line. It’s extremely difficult to discipline or remove a judge over a ruling, and perhaps there’s good reason for that. But it seems to me that Martin’s decision to use his courtroom to scold a man who had been assaulted over his Halloween costume—and to imply that the right not to be offended trumps the First Amendment—gets more into the realm of judicial conduct and temperament.
http://www.theagitator.com/2012/02/25/m ... gitator%29