The judge presiding over the Amber Guyger murder trial is now the subject of a formal complaint after she gave the convicted murderer her personal Bible.
According to Fox 4 KDFW, The Freedom from Religion Foundation filed a complaint with the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct Thursday, stating it was inappropriate for Tammy Kemp to give Guyger the Bible.
The foundation claims that government employees “may not use the power and privilege of their offices to preach their personal religious beliefs.”
Guyger was convicted of murder in the fatal shooting of Botham Jean and received a 10-year sentence from the jury. Afterwards, the judge went up to the defense table, first hugging and speaking with Jean’s family and then approached and spoke to Guyger.
In an interview released Thursday, Guyger’s defense attorneys gave more context to clear up what happened in the moment.
“The judge said you got to forgive yourself first and then they talked,” Toby Shook, defense attorney said. “Amber said, ‘I don’t have my Bible.’ And she said, ‘I’ll be right back.’”
That’s when Judge Kemp left the court, went to her chambers, and returned with her personal Bible to give to her.
“This is your job for the next month,” Kemp told Guyger. “You read right here: John 3:16.” Cameras barely captured audio of the judge reading, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.”
It’s reported she then guided Guyger through accepting Christ into her life. It was said in court that that is what Botham Jean would have wanted.
“Per the judge’s orders, we went, and the judge gave us a study Bible to take to Amber,” said defense attorney Robert Rogers. “I think it’s part of the judge’s power and using her power — as far as the rehabilitation — and she wants Amber to have hope.”
But to no surprise, not everyone is embracing what the judge did.
“This was an abuse of power that was outside the bounds of propriety and the law,” Andrew L. Seidel, a constitutional attorney with the Freedom from Religion Foundation, stated. “When a judge can use their power in their courtroom to instruct a criminal defendant to read the Bible and to come to Jesus, they have exceeded their power, and they are violating everyone’s religious liberty.”
“Even if Amber Guyger is a devout Bible-believing Christian, the judge’s actions were still inappropriate,” Seidel said. “She was abusing a public office that belongs to we the people.”
The foundation believes that Kemp otherwise handled the Guyger trial with “grace and aplomb” but that her actions crossed the line.
Judge Kemp has not spoken publicly since the end of the trial. When asked, a representative for Kemp declined to comment on the issue.
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