A bible-foisting judge was sanctioned by Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct for making a man write bible verses 25 times a day as part of his sentencing.
Last July, Judge Randall Rogers from Smith County, Texas, decided that the best punishment for Josten Bundy, who punched an ex-boyfriend of his girlfriend, was to marry his girlfriend, get counseling and write bible verses.
If Bundy declined to the probation rules, he would be sentenced to 15 days in jail.
Bundy was told to write Proverbs 26:27 (“If a man digs a pit, he will fall into it”) 25 times a day.
Bundy did comply with the marriage injunction and ended up marrying his girlfriend.
FFRF filed a complaint with the commission and Americans United for Separation of Church and State sent a letter to the judge.
“After a thorough review and investigation of the issues you raised in your complaint, the commission voted to issue the judge a private sanction,” Seana Willing, executive director of the commission, said in the letter. However, FFRF was not allowed to see the details of the sanction.
FFRF thanks the commission.
“In our secular constitutional system, courts should not be forcing people to act according to biblical precepts,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor.
