This morning, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniel indicated his replacement for retiring Appeals Judge Patrick Sullivan. And oh what a choice he's made.
More below the flip.
The intended replacement for Judge Sullivan is the Hon. Cale J. Bradford, Chief Judge of the Marion County (Indiana) Superior Court.
Why should this appointment be of any concern?
As the wiki article mention, Bradford's claim to fame is
Case number 49D010305DR000898 was a child custody case where Judge Bradford issued a ruling forbidding either parent from instructing their son in their shared religious beliefs. The judge questioned how Wicca differed from Satanism and instructed the parents to choose a "mainstream" religion.
The Judge ordered the divorcing parents, whose son was attending a Catholic grade school, that the could not teach their child in their shared Wiccan ways. Ironically, his decision was overturned by the Court he is about to be appointed to.
This gentleman is no ordinary rightwinger, he is exactly the kind of extremist that should not only not be appointed to such a high position, he shouldn't be sitting on a bench period.
Here are links to diaries with more information on the case:
Judge rules First Amendment not so important
Wiccan parents win appeal
and check out this Indiana Law Blog entry.
[Update: The Indianapolis Star has posted a story on this, and I have added link in the text.]
[Update2: Added diary links for background information.]
[Update3: Crossposted at Blue Indiana]
This diary is just a snip, at the moment, and the info is of an insider variety (thus no link). I will flesh this out as I get more info, and will try to crosspost to Blue Indiana (but any Hoosier Kossack can preempt me if they wish). Thanks.