Baptist News Global
Sections
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Opinion
  • Curated
  • Storytelling
    • Faith & Justice >
      • Charleston: Metanoia with Bill Stanfield
      • Charlotte: QC Family Tree with Greg and Helms Jarrell
      • Little Rock: Judge Wendell Griffen
      • North Carolina: Conetoe
    • Welcoming the Stranger >
      • Lost Boys of Sudan: St. John’s Baptist Charlotte
      • Awakening to Immigrant Justice: Myers Park Baptist Church
      • Hospitality on the corner: Gaston Christian Center
    • Signature Ministries >
      • Jake Hall: Gospel Gothic, Music and Radio
    • Singing Our Faith >
      • Hymns for a Lifetime: Ken Wilson and Knollwood Baptist Church
      • Norfolk Street Choir
    • Resilient Rural America >
      • Alabama: Perry County
      • Texas: Hidalgo County
      • Arkansas Delta
      • Southeast Kentucky
  • More
    • Contact
    • About
    • Donate
    • Associated Baptist Press Foundation
    • Planned Giving
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Advertising
    • Ministry Jobs and More
    • Transitions
    • Subscribe
    • Submissions and Permissions
Donate Subscribe
Search Search this site

Pastor/judge threatened with impeachment says his critics ignore the Constitution

NewsBob Allen  |  May 4, 2017

An Arkansas judge under fire for participating in a death penalty protest after issuing an order blocking an execution says critics seeking his impeachment want to infringe on his rights as a Baptist pastor to express his religious beliefs.

The Arkansas House of Representatives passed a resolution May 3 amending rules allowing lawmakers to impeach a public official. The vote came two days after state Sen. Trent Garner (R-El Dorado) released a statement calling for impeachment of Pulaski County Judge Wendell Griffen for behavior after granting a temporary restraining order blocking the first of a string of executions scheduled to begin the day after Easter.

“On Good Friday, about an hour after he had made a critical ruling against the state that effectively halted the executions, Griffen strapped himself to a cot in front of the Governor’s mansion to protest the executions he had just stopped,” the senator said. “Making a public statement about a case in which he was still involved reeks of bias. Setting aside the merits of the case itself, Griffen attacked the integrity of our legal system by showing some parties can’t get a fair trial in his court.”

Garner, a member of Calvary Baptist Church in East Camden, Ark., said Griffen on many occasions “has shown that he is not fit to be on the bench.”

“Because of his gross misconduct in office, I am calling for the Arkansas House of Representatives to bring an article of impeachment against Judge Wendell Griffen,” Garner said. “He should never again be allowed to hold office of any sort in Arkansas. We as the General Assembly can remove the stain that Griffen has left on our judicial integrity.”

Wendell Griffen (Photo/Bob Allen/BNG)

Griffen, pastor of Cooperative Baptist Fellowship-aligned New Millennium Church in Little Rock, said in a personal blog May 3 the politicians seeking his removal took the same oath of office he did, pledging to uphold the Constitution of the United States.

“The First Amendment guarantees my freedom to express my religious beliefs as a follower of Jesus, whether politicians like my beliefs or not,” Griffen said.

Though Wednesday’s House vote did not mention Griffen by name, the pastor said the politicians behind it “disapprove of what I have written about morality, social justice, law and public policy in my blog.” Griffen reminded his political opponents that freedoms enshrined in the Constitution are important “especially when we disagree.’

“Political officeholders have the right to disagree with what others say and do,” Griffen said. “We have no right to use our offices to punish or threaten people for exercising their right to disagree with us.”

“Whenever that happens, the word we use is tyranny,” he said.

The state Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission is investigating whether Griffen’s decision to join other members of his church at the Good Friday vigil violated judicial ethics. Griffen asked the panel on April 26 to investigate the Arkansas Supreme Court and attorney general, saying they removed him from the death penalty case without due process.

The Arkansas Department of Corrections recently executed four men in eight days in a race to beat the expiration date on one of three drugs used in the state’s lethal injection protocol. The state had planned to execute eight men in 11 days, but four were blocked by court orders.

Griffen’s order, temporarily halting the first of the scheduled deaths, said a pharmaceutical company offered evidence to show it would probably win a lawsuit claiming the state obtained one of its products under false pretenses.

Witnesses to the April 27 execution of inmate Kenneth Williams said his body lurched and convulsed during the procedure, prompting some to label it a botched execution. The governor’s office called the twitches an “involuntary muscular reaction” and not an indication of pain.

Garner, a witness to the Williams execution, told a local TV station that as a combat veteran who served two tours in Afghanistan, he saw “many people die in very painful fashions.”

“From seeing those deaths, compared to what I saw last night, were night and day,” the senator told Little Rock CBS affiliate KATV. “There was no pain.”

Previous story:

Judge disputes claims that his death penalty protest violated judicial impartiality

 

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)
Tags:Death penaltyWendell Griffen
More by
Bob Allen
  • Get BNG headlines in your inbox

  • Featured

    • Yes, Tim Scott is a Black man, but he’s still promoting Christian nationalism

      Opinion

    • New documentary series shows how churches that close can keep ministry open

      News

    • Here’s why Ron DeSantis has gone to war with Disney

      Opinion

    • Remembering Bob Seymour: Being wise as serpents and harmless as doves

      Opinion


    Curated

    • US Slavic Churches Booming with Ukrainian War Refugees

      US Slavic Churches Booming with Ukrainian War Refugees

    • What is ‘ethical AI’ and how can companies achieve it?

      What is ‘ethical AI’ and how can companies achieve it?

    • Russia acknowledges Vatican peace initiative, says no steps yet for a mission to Moscow

      Russia acknowledges Vatican peace initiative, says no steps yet for a mission to Moscow

    • What we need to understand is that fascism is intersectional and erotic — ’thy rod is thy gun,’ with a hip-thrust

      What we need to understand is that fascism is intersectional and erotic — ’thy rod is thy gun,’ with a hip-thrust

    Read Next:

    Evangelical worldview ministries seek to promote ‘proper’ thoughts, beliefs and actions

    NewsSteve Rabey

    More Articles

    • All
    • News
    • Opinion
    • Curated
    • How the Progressive National Baptist Convention plans to put faith into action

      OpinionDarryl Gray

    • Believe me: The struggle of Black pain

      OpinionZachary Barber

    • They’ll know we are Christians by our what?

      OpinionBill Leonard, Senior Columnist

    • U.S. Department of Education issues guidance on religious expression in schools

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • How to celebrate Pentecost without balloons, plastic doves or salsa

      OpinionJack Levison

    • Ten Commandments bill dies in Texas Legislature

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • The generational pain and hope of the Southern Baptist witch trials

      OpinionWill Raybon

    • Leader of Assemblies of God student group at Baylor arrested on child sexual abuse charges

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • BJC and Interfaith Alliance applaud first-ever national strategy to counter antisemitism

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Why demographic shifts haven’t yet swamped the Republican Party

      OpinionRobert P. Jones

    • Tina Turner kept the divine flame burning

      OpinionJustin Cox

    • Remembering Bob Seymour: Being wise as serpents and harmless as doves

      OpinionCurtis Freeman

    • Here’s why Ron DeSantis has gone to war with Disney

      OpinionRodney Kennedy

    • New documentary series shows how churches that close can keep ministry open

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Yes, Tim Scott is a Black man, but he’s still promoting Christian nationalism

      OpinionRick Pidcock

    • Southwestern Seminary trustees called to special meeting next Tuesday

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Transitions for the week of 5-26-23

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • 8-year-old’s death in CBP custody highlights Biden’s ‘system of death,’ immigration advocates say

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Why ‘affirming’ churches need to speak up

      OpinionSusan M. Shaw, Senior Columnist

    • Evangelical worldview ministries seek to promote ‘proper’ thoughts, beliefs and actions

      NewsSteve Rabey

    • Five things Southern Baptists should do now to address clergy sex abuse

      OpinionChrista Brown and David Clohessy

    • Why we must be cautious about understanding what’s going on at Southwestern Seminary

      OpinionMark Wingfield

    • Here’s another angle to corporate DEI work: Increased support for ‘faith friendly’ workplaces

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • On graduation and the priesthood of all believers

      OpinionVal Fisk

    • Here’s how to force SBC entities to be accountable to people in the pew about their finances

      OpinionMark Wingfield

    • U.S. Department of Education issues guidance on religious expression in schools

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Ten Commandments bill dies in Texas Legislature

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Leader of Assemblies of God student group at Baylor arrested on child sexual abuse charges

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • BJC and Interfaith Alliance applaud first-ever national strategy to counter antisemitism

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • New documentary series shows how churches that close can keep ministry open

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Southwestern Seminary trustees called to special meeting next Tuesday

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Transitions for the week of 5-26-23

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • 8-year-old’s death in CBP custody highlights Biden’s ‘system of death,’ immigration advocates say

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Evangelical worldview ministries seek to promote ‘proper’ thoughts, beliefs and actions

      NewsSteve Rabey

    • Here’s another angle to corporate DEI work: Increased support for ‘faith friendly’ workplaces

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Amid Sudan war and elsewhere, water scarcity threatens lives

      NewsAnthony Akaeze

    • Ministry jobs and more

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • Gap widens on American confidence in vaccines

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Seven graphs that show the state of American religious attendance today

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Tim Keller was a really nice guy, but that wasn’t enough for everyone

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • In Mozambique, informal economies are springing up around Pentecostal pilgrimages

      NewsDegracias Kalimo

    • Immigration advocates continue to rip Biden administration for betrayal of campaign promises 

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Missouri bill to increase statute of limitations for child sexual abuse victims dies in Senate

      NewsMallory Challis

    • ‘Every single pastor at the conference should forbid their wives from attending her session’

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Colorado Springs elects a Nigerian immigrant — and political Independent — as mayor

      NewsSteve Rabey

    • On its 60th anniversary, ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’ still speaks

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Alliance focuses spring meeting on setting modern-day captives free

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • SBC presidential candidate describes his church as ‘the strictest of the strict complementarians’

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Northern Seminary students file complaint with accreditation board

      NewsElizabeth Souder

    • Rick Warren outlines five reasons Saddleback will challenge its expulsion from SBC

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • How the Progressive National Baptist Convention plans to put faith into action

      OpinionDarryl Gray

    • Believe me: The struggle of Black pain

      OpinionZachary Barber

    • They’ll know we are Christians by our what?

      OpinionBill Leonard, Senior Columnist

    • How to celebrate Pentecost without balloons, plastic doves or salsa

      OpinionJack Levison

    • The generational pain and hope of the Southern Baptist witch trials

      OpinionWill Raybon

    • Why demographic shifts haven’t yet swamped the Republican Party

      OpinionRobert P. Jones

    • Tina Turner kept the divine flame burning

      OpinionJustin Cox

    • Remembering Bob Seymour: Being wise as serpents and harmless as doves

      OpinionCurtis Freeman

    • Here’s why Ron DeSantis has gone to war with Disney

      OpinionRodney Kennedy

    • Yes, Tim Scott is a Black man, but he’s still promoting Christian nationalism

      OpinionRick Pidcock

    • Why ‘affirming’ churches need to speak up

      OpinionSusan M. Shaw, Senior Columnist

    • Five things Southern Baptists should do now to address clergy sex abuse

      OpinionChrista Brown and David Clohessy

    • Why we must be cautious about understanding what’s going on at Southwestern Seminary

      OpinionMark Wingfield

    • On graduation and the priesthood of all believers

      OpinionVal Fisk

    • Here’s how to force SBC entities to be accountable to people in the pew about their finances

      OpinionMark Wingfield

    • These are some of the best pastors I know

      OpinionJustin Cox

    • Worshiping guns, weaponizing God    

      OpinionScott Spreier

    • Of two minds: Iain McGilchrist and the tyranny of left hemisphere religion

      OpinionAlan Bean

    • Faith freedom for all calls for justice and reconciliation

      OpinionSabrina Dent

    • The lion, the witch-hunt and the boardroom: Reflections 30 years after the harrowing of Southern Seminary

      OpinionBrad Bull

    • Is our ever-changing worship music giving us spiritual amnesia?

      OpinionJason Koon

    • Is calling someone a ‘white supremacist’ the same as calling someone the ‘N-word’?

      OpinionRodney Kennedy

    • An eleventh commandment: Be careful what you wish for

      OpinionDon Polaski

    • In the beginning and the here and now: Genesis’ call to care for creation

      OpinionBrett Younger

    • Ron DeSantis is dead wrong — again

      OpinionMark Wingfield

    • US Slavic Churches Booming with Ukrainian War Refugees

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • What is ‘ethical AI’ and how can companies achieve it?

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Russia acknowledges Vatican peace initiative, says no steps yet for a mission to Moscow

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • What we need to understand is that fascism is intersectional and erotic — ’thy rod is thy gun,’ with a hip-thrust

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Our Beloved Ones Don’t Become Angels When They Die

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Turkey’s Christian Sites: Visiting The Seven Churches From The Book Of Revelation

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Firewalkers in Greece honor Saint Constantine in mystery-shrouded, centuries-old rituals

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • In fight against ‘tyranny,’ Michigan board declares itself ‘constitutional county’

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Montana acts to protect Native American priority in adopting Native children

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • A new documentary takes a deep dive into the ancient and modern practice of Sabbath

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Priest killed in Mexico; 9th slain in country in past 4 years

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Fewer Christians Know Families Who Foster or Adopt

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Wikipedia disciplines editors in Holocaust distortion dispute but sidesteps debate over Polish complicity

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Religious broadcasters seek to reverse California law aimed at quelling online hate speech

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Second Christian Conscientious Objector Given Jail Sentence In Ukraine

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • UK report finds Britons’ lack of faith knowledge deeply disturbing

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • When faith says to help migrants – and the law says don’t

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • 3 Palestinian militants killed in Israeli West Bank raid; US slams latest settlement expansion

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • As enrollment dropped, more Hebrew schools opened in San Francisco

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Religious broadcasters seek to reverse California law aimed at quelling online hate speech

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Vatican recalls stamp celebrating Portugal’s colonial empire after complaints

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Tim Keller, influential author and pastor, receiving hospice care at home

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Hell, yes: younger Britons more likely to believe in damnation, study finds

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Auschwitz museum begins emotional work of conserving 8,000 shoes of murdered children

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Kashmiri Muslims Slam Social Media Influencers For Violating Faith And Sentiments

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    Conversations that Matter.

    © 2023 Baptist News Global. All rights reserved.

    Want to share a story? We hope you will! Read our republishing, terms of use and privacy policies here.

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • RSS