The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, notorious for Left-leaning decisions, has upheld a jury's use of the Bible while deliberating a murder case.
The justices split 9-6 on the decision. The dissenting judges said using the Bible in court is "unconstitutional."
Stevie Fields was sentenced to life in prison in 1979 after he committed a series of rapes, kidnappings, robberies and the murder of a student librarian. In 2000, a judge called for a retrial because the jury foreman shared Bible passages concerning murder.
Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute, told Family News in Focus that the decision is encouraging for the rest of the country.
"The fact that the 9th Circuit decided to uphold the conviction of this murderer," he said, "is a good sign that similar cases like this would probably be upheld in other circuits."
Ron Prentice, executive director of the California Family Council, said he would have preferred that the majority justices take an even stronger stand.
"The majority opinion said that even if the use of Scripture was jury misconduct, it had no real impact on the ultimate decision," he said. "We would love for courts to begin saying that use of Scripture has been historical in this country and can continue."
