Sunday, October 16, 2011

Does this mean Atheists can not serve on a Jury in MD according to the State Constitution

Maryland State Constitution Declaration of Rights, Article 36:

"Art. 36. That as it is the duty of every man to worship God in such manner as he thinks most acceptable to Him, all persons are equally entitled to protection in their religious liberty; wherefore, no person ought by any law to be molested in his person or estate, on account of his religious persuasion, or profession, or for his religious practice, unless, under the color of religion, he shall disturb the good order, peace or safety of the State, or shall infringe the laws of morality, or injure others in their natural, civil or religious rights; nor ought any person to be compelled to frequent, or maintain, or contribute, unless on contract, to maintain, any place of worship, or any ministry; nor shall any person, otherwise competent, be deemed incompetent as a witness, or juror, on account of his religious belief; provided, he believes in the existence of God, and that under His dispensation such person will be held morally accountable for his acts, and be rewarded or punished therefor either in this world or in the world to come."

Update:

If you look below Article 36 you will find the following statement:"Nothing in this article shall constitute an establishment of religion (amended by Chapter 558, Acts of 1970, ratified Nov. 3, 1970)."

From Wikipedia:

This apparently was the result of a unanimous 1961 decision by US Supreme court in the case of Torcaso v. Watkins found that an attempt to enforce this provision violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. In 1970, this article was amended to include the sentence "Nothing in this article shall constitute an establishment of religion". However the original wording of the article was also left in place, but presumably is symbolic rather than effective.

So why not just change text of the Article to just remove the language?

Turns out that a unanimous 1961 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Torcaso v. Watkins held that the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the federal Constitution override these state requirements, so THEY ARE NOT ENFORCED.

Detail on the Torasco v. Watkins case.

1 comment:

B said...

Well, at least, it says that we may be deemed incompetent as a witness or juror. You would need to present your beliefs to the magistrate and allow the attorneys to disqualify you on those grounds if applicable.