Sunday: Teen's court-ordered church attendance may not be enforceable
BY SUSAN HYLTON World Staff Writer
Saturday, November 17, 2012
MUSKOGEE — A judge’s decision to require a teenager to attend church as part a deferred sentence for manslaughter may not be enforceable, a prosecutor said.
Muskogee County District Attorney Larry Moore said he knows of no law that would allow the judge to make it a condition of the teen’s sentence.
“I’m not aware of any authority to order someone to participate in a religious event as part of punishment,” Moore said. “I anticipate a constitutional issue with separation of church and state.”
But District Judge Mike Norman said he stands by his decision last week.
“I received a couple of bad calls — one from Oregon and one from Missouri — telling me it was in violation of the U.S. Constitution. They may well be right, but that’s what I did and we made a record,” Norman said.
“If someone wants to appeal my decision they’re entitled to do that,” he said.
The defendant, Tyler Alred, 17, was behind the wheel of a Chevrolet pickup about 4 a.m. Dec. 3 when he crashed into a tree on a county road east of Muskogee. His friend and passenger John Luke Dum, 16, of Muskogee died at the scene.
Read more in Sunday's Tulsa World.
Associated Images:
Tyler Alred was behind the wheel of a Chevrolet pickup about 4 a.m. Dec. 3 when he crashed into a tree on a county road east of Muskogee.
District Judge Mike Norman ordered Tyler Alfred to attend church.
Muskogee County District Attorney Larry Moore
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