Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site cxsea.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxt!houxm!vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!ssc-vax!cxsea!doc From: doc@cxsea.UUCP (Documentation ) Newsgroups: net.legal,net.religion Subject: Re: Swearing in Court - Separation of Church/State Message-ID: <409@cxsea.UUCP> Date: Fri, 27-Sep-85 16:38:59 EDT Article-I.D.: cxsea.409 Posted: Fri Sep 27 16:38:59 1985 Date-Received: Sun, 29-Sep-85 08:30:06 EDT References: <1695@akgua.UUCP> Organization: Computer X Inc., Seattle, Washington. Lines: 43 Xref: watmath net.legal:2398 net.religion:7810 > Affirmation, Swearing, and the Separation of Church and State > > I notice that in TV court scenes (shaky evidence) and in the > court system of Georgia a witness is required to raise his > right hand and repeat (approximately): > > "I swear (or affirm) that I will tell the truth, the whole > truth, and nothing but the truth...so help me God." > > Doesn't the swearing, the invocation of God's name (or a god's > name if you prefer), and (on TV anyway) the laying of the left > hand on the Christian Bible constitute some kind of mingling > of Church and State that the ACLU types get so exercised > about ?? > > Here it is right in the heart of our judicial system. > ... > Bob Brown {...ihnp4!akgua!rjb} Well, Bob, you're right about one thing: what you see on TV is pretty shaky evidence. In the two years I've been out of law school I have yet to see a bible used in court. What usually happens when a witness is "sworn in" is that the bailiff asks them to raise their right hand and asks them: "Do you solemly swear or affirm that the testimony you are about to give is the truth?" or "Do you promise to tell the truth?" It's all very informal; I suppose someday we'll reach the point where they just ask: "You aren't gonna lie, are you?" The point of all this is, of course, that you don't want to run screaming to your congressman about these abuses of separation of church and state, on the strength of what you see in old Perry Mason reruns. I wouldn't want to, anyway. (;-) Joel Gilman Brought to you by Super Global Mega Corp .com