Written by Don Byrd
Get married or go to jail. Texas Judge Randall Rogers posed that disturbing sentencing choice to a criminal defendant who pled guilty to assault.
Josten and Elizabeth Bundy chose marriage to fulfill the conditions of Josten’s probation and avoid jail time. He also must write Bible verses every day during his probation to comply with the judge’s order.
The Tyler Morning Telegraph reports:
[I]t wasn’t the wedding they envisioned. There were no frills, and the bride’s father, Kenneth Jaynes, didn’t get to walk his daughter down the aisle.
Jaynes said he is furious with Rogers and upset with the judicial system.
“How can he do something like this? This cannot be legal,” Jaynes said. “He is nothing more than a bully on the bench, and I have always told my daughter to respect and obey the law, but I’ve also told her to stand up to bullies. This caused me to blow a gasket.”
Rogers is now the subject of a complaint filed with the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct, and rightly so. Marriage is for many a sacred institution, an act of faith, and an expression of religious commitment. To be free, religious acts must be voluntary, not coerced by threat of the state.
Forcing a person to get married to avoid jail time is surely improper and violates his rights to make that kind of decision for himself. This seems so obvious, it feels odd to even have to type it. Why is it so difficult for some folks?
