Ulster County, NY – A judge in New York state took the oath of office with his hand placed on a dictionary rather than a book of scripture because officials could find no Bible.
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The glitch, in a packed courtroom of the historic Ulster County Courthouse in Kingston, N.Y., provided “a light moment” in the swearing-in of Donald A. Williams as Ulster County judge, the Daily Freeman of Kingston reported.
Williams said later he didn’t mind using a dictionary instead of a Bible because the swearing-in Saturday was purely ceremonial.
The former district attorney, a Republican, officially became the county judge Friday.
U.S. government officials are not required to swear in on a Bible, but most do so as a demonstration of the binding nature of the promise. The act also adds solemnity to the ceremony. Most officials use their own family Bible.
Williams, a Republican who lives in Kingston, was elected county judge in November over incumbent Democrat Deborah Schneer, 25,781-17,968. Schneer, who had been a town of Rochester justice, was appointed to the county bench midyear by New York Gov. David Paterson, a fellow Democrat, after Judge J. Michael Bruhn retired. The appointment, though, was only through Dec. 31, setting up the election against Williams.
Williams was elected to a 10-year term. The current salary is $131,400 per year.
Williams said one benefit of his new job is he now can have closer social associations with people who were judges when he was a prosecutor.
So far, fear of Divine Retribution for swearing false oaths hasn’t stopped many from breaking them. Maybe the wrath of thousands of outraged librarians will have a more immediate effect.
So help me Webster. 🙂
The Wolf
This is beyond CHELM
The atheist might complain that the dictionary has the word G-d in it
Define “swear”…
America needs to return to G-d. This is a sign of very, very negative things to come. Remember what Rav Ovadia Yosef said after Hurricane Katrina.
I am at a loss for words.
If you look closer it was not a dicitionary.The hand was on the new twitter book.
I don’t get it… even several Presidents (including Teddy Roosevelt and LBJ) have sworn in on something other than a bible. What is the story here?
When Justice Roberts messed up the oath while swearing in Obama (which was done using Lincoln’s bible), they re-did the oath for the sake of getting the words right at a later time without one.
Nothing against the guy, it’s just that this could easily be spun by a political rival into something else. (I.e. “Williams sworn in with dictionary b/c no bible available” becomes “williams uses dictionary unlike every other judge who uses bible–what does that tell you?”)
i think that the dictionary should be used instead of a bible. it’s the only major work of writing where people of all faiths agree on the same meaning of the text.