Insane abuse of power in Tennessee
How do people become judges who have such a wanton disregard for the constitution?
Man Says Judge Arrested Him ‘On a Hunch’
NASHVILLE (CN) – A judge in Dickson County, Tenn., had officers pull a spectator out of his courtroom “on a hunch,” held him in custody and made him submit to a urinalysis for drugs, the man claims in Federal Court. Benjamin Marchant claims that General Sessions Judge Durwood Moore admitted that he “routinely drug-screens ‘spectators’ in his courtroom if he ‘thinks’ they may be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.” Moore allegedly called it the “routine policy of the court.”
Marchant says he was in Moore’s courtroom supporting a friend, when Moore ordered officers to take him into custody. They grabbed Marchant, allegedly without any evidence of illegal behavior, and took him to a different place in the courthouse where he was made to submit to a drug screen urinalysis. He was released from custody when the results came back negative.
Moore acknowledged he had violated Marchant’s rights and was censured by the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Judiciary Court on May 1, 2009, the highest form of punishment short of seeking a judge’s removal from the bench, according to the complaint.
The court ordered Moore to “never violate a person’s constitutional rights as he did to the Plaintiff,” the complaint states. </em>
A bit too late on that. I certainly hope Moore is a Wal-Mart greeter by now.
