In the face unanimous and universal condemnation from politicians to civil rights organizations, Justice of the Peace Keith Bardwell did what everyone was telling him to do - he resigned.Read the background story here.
The office of Louisiana Secretary of State Jay Dardenne said it had received a statement from Mr Bardwell saying: "I do hereby resign the office of Justice of the Peace for the Eighth Ward of Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, effective November 3, 2009."
Keith Bardwell was the JP who refused to marry an interracial couple in Louisiana because of his concern for the kids of such a union. He was unapologetic about his attitude and genuinely did not seem to realize what all the fuss was about, as seen in this interview with CBS:
Bardwell was first elected in 1975 as justice of the peace in Ponchatoula, La., a town 55 miles north of New Orleans. His term was set to run through 2014, and he had said that even before the flap, he hadn't intended to run for re-election.
The couple Mr Bardwell refused to issue a license for - Beth Humphrey, 30, and Terence McKay, 32 - have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against him.
"We're saddened that it took national attention to this issue, which was decided back in 1967 by the Supreme Court, and also that it took public admonishment from other elected leaders in order for him to resign," said Laura Catlett, a lawyer for Humphrey and McKay.
The Governor of Louisiana Bobby Jindal who had previously called for Bardwell to resign, said Bardwell made the right decision.
"What he did was clearly wrong and this resignation was long overdue," the governor said in a statement.
"I am deeply disturbed by Justice Bardwell's practices and comments concerning interracial marriages," she said. "Not only does his decision directly contradict Supreme Court rulings, it is an example of the ugly bigotry that divided our country for too long.
"By resigning ... and ending his embarrassing tenure in office, Justice Bardwell has finally consented to the will of the vast majority of Louisiana citizens and nearly every governmental official in Louisiana ... We are better off without him in public service," she said.
Catlett said the resignation won't stop the lawsuit, which also names Bardwell's wife as a defendant.
"This does not in any way change the fact that he, with his wife's help, discriminated against an interracial couple while he was a public official," Catlett said.
Beth Humphrey, 30, and Terence McKay, 32, both of Hammond, La. were in love and decided to get married. They went to Justice of the Peace Keith Bardwell for the marriage license. He refused because Beth was white and Terence was black and he doesn't do mixed-race marriages.
He suggested that they get someone else to sign the marriage certificate....which they did. They are now happily married....no thanks to Keith Bardwell.
Before continuing any further, I am going to go ahead and call Justice of the Peace Keith Bardwell from Hammond, in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana a racist. A racist who has no business being a Justice of the Peace, sworn to uphold the laws of the United States of America.
This issue was decided by the Supreme Court on June, 12, 1967 when it declared: "The Government cannot tell people who they can and cannot marry." See Loving vs Virginia and the story behind the ruling.
“Marriage is one of the ‘basic civil rights of man,’ fundamental to our very existence and survival,” wrote Chief Justice Warren. “Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State.”
This has been the law of the land for over 40 years.
According to JP Keith Bardwell, he refused to issue a marriage license out of concern for the children of such a marriage and that it has been his experience that most interracial marriages do not last long. He refutes the notion that he is a racist.
"I’m not a racist. I just don’t believe in mixing the races that way," Keith Bardwell told AP. “I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else” Bardwell said. "My main concern is for the children."
After having discussions with both blacks and whites, he said he has come to the conclusion that: "Most of black society does not readily accept offspring of such relationships, and neither does white society."
"I don't do interracial marriages because I don't want to put children in a situation they didn't bring on themselves," Bardwell said. "In my heart, I feel the children will later suffer."
Beth Humphrey said she called Bardwell on Oct. 6 to inquire about getting a marriage license signed. She says Bardwell's wife told her that Bardwell will not sign marriage licenses for interracial couples.
According to the Census Bureau, Tangipahoa Parish is about 70 percent white and 30 percent black.
Beth Humphrey is an account manager for a marketing firm. Terrence McKay is a welder and they had just returned to Louisiana. Humphrey says she plans to enroll in the University of New Orleans to pursue a masters degree in minority politics.
"That was one thing that made this so unbelievable," she said. "It's not something you expect in this day and age. We are looking forward to having children, and all our friends and co-workers have been very supportive. Except for this, we're typical happy newlyweds."
The ACLU sent a letter to the Louisiana Judiciary Committee, which oversees the state justices of the peace, asking them to investigate Bardwell and recommending "the most severe sanctions available, because such blatant bigotry poses a substantial threat of serious harm to the administration of justice."
"It is really astonishing and disappointing to see this come up in 2009," said American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana attorney Katie Schwartzmann. "He knew he was breaking the law, but continued to do it."
The NAACP branch of Tangipahoa Parishhas also gotten involved. It has forwarded the case to the state and national levels of the civil rights group, calling for Keith Bardwell to resign because of his refusal to issue the marriage license.
“He’s an elected public official and one of his duties is to marry people, he doesn’t have the right to say he doesn’t believe in it,” said Patricia Morris, president of the NAACP branch of Tangipahoa Parish, located near the Mississippi line. “If he doesn’t do what his position calls for him to do, he should resign from that position.”
Keith Bardwell said that in the 34 years he has been a justice of the peace he has never married couples of different races.
“I do not, do not, do mixed-race marriages,” he said. “I always guide them to another justice of the peace. They can go other places and get married. A justice of the peace does not have to marry anybody,” Bardwell said.
In my opinion.... No one should have to put up with the racist attitudes of a bigot masquerading under the pretense that he cares what happens to the children of mixed-race parents. It is none of his business. No one asked for his opinion much less his permission to get married. If he can't do his job without interjecting his personal biases then he should not be a Justice of the Peace. He should resign or be removed from office.....in my opinion.
White Supremacist, James Wenneker Von Brunn, 88, was charged with the murder of Steven Tyrone Johns, 39, in what was a hate-filled, racially-motivated, anti-Semitic attack at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC on June 10, 2009. In addition to the Murder in the First Degree charge, Von Brunn was also charged with Killing in the Course of Possession of a Firearm in a Federal Facility. If convicted Von Brunn could face the death penalty.
"This outrageous act reminds us that we must remain vigilant against anti-Semitism and prejudice in all its forms. No American institution is more important to this effort than the Holocaust Museum, and no act of violence will diminish our determination to honor those who were lost by building a more peaceful and tolerant world." said U.S. President Barack Obama.
The Museum expresses gratitude for the outpouring of support and messages of condolence we have received from our Museum community, President Obama, and concerned citizens and organizations across the country and around the world. Today our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Officer Stephen Johns, who died heroically in the line of duty on June 10th protecting our visitors and staff. Despite our grief and outrage we will reopen our doors on Friday June 12, and every day after, with a renewed commitment to the urgency of our mission.
Steven Johns was the security guard at the museum who had opened the door for the approaching James Von Brunn, only to be greeted with a gunshot from the .22 caliber rifle he was carrying. The bullet hit Johns in the chest. Two other guards at the facility upon seeing what happened, returned fire and struck Von Brunn in the face. Von Brunn was taken to hospital in critical condition. Johns was killed on the scene. Spent cartridges reveal Von Brunn fired three shots and the officers fired eight.
Von Brunn's Internet writings say the Holocaust was a hoax. "At Auschwitz the 'Holocaust' myth became Reality, and Germany, cultural gem of the West, became a pariah among world nations," he wrote.
Shortly after the shootout police searched the 2002 red Hyundai with Maryland license plate number 6BVR16, registered to Von Brunn, which was doubled-parked in front of the museum. Inside they found a notebook with a hand-written note saying:
"You want my weapons - this is how you'll get them. The Holocaust is a lie. Obama was created by Jews. Obama does what his Jew owners tell him to do. Jews captured America's money. Jews control the mass media. The 1st Amendment is abrogated - henceforth. See: holywesternempire.org. JVB swore (LT UNSR) to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Jews - Bolsheviks - Zionist are America's enemies. See: Talmud - Sanhedrin "Kill the Best Gentiles!"
At the end of the above writings appears the signature "James W. Von Brunn."
Von Brunn lived at 616 Admiral Drive, Annapolis, Maryland 21401 with his son Erik Von Brunn, and Brandy Teel, his son's girlfriend. Police searched the apartment where they found more .22 caliber ammunition and a 30/30 rifle. Ledgers, journals and manuscripts were also recovered.
Von Brunn is a native of St. Louis, a World War II veteran who served in the Navy, worked in advertising in New York City and moved to Maryland's Eastern Shore in the late 1960s, where he stayed in advertising and tried to make a mark as an artist.
Public records show that in 2004 and 2005 he lived briefly in Hayden, Idaho, for years home to the Aryan Nations, a racist group run by neo-Nazi Richard Butler.
He was sentenced in 1983 for attempted armed kidnapping and other charges in his 1981 bid to seize Fed board members. A guard captured him outside the room where the board was meeting. He had a revolver, sawed-off shotgun and knife in a bag with him. He served more than six years in prison.
Steven Tyrone Johns leaves behind his 11-year-old son Steven Jr. and his mother Jacqueline Carter who said she feels like she's stuck in a bad nightmare. "It's the hardest thing I think any mother can go through."
Johns, a diehard Redskins fan, lived in Temple Hills in Maryland. He graduated in 1988 from the Crossland High School in Temple Hills. He had worked at the museum for six years and "died in the line of duty", the museum said.
"If you had to pick someone who exuded caring and seeing the best in people, that was him," said Bill Parsons, chief of staff at the museum. "He was terrific at it. He was this big guy with a big smile. If we ever had a football team, he would have been one of our linebackers."
"He was a big guy with a big heart," said Milton Talley, 44, a former colleague of Johns. "He'd do anything for the visitors that came to the museum."
Johns worked for Wackenhut Security. A union official says he asked for protective vests for guards at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum two years ago, but they never got them. He said he pushed for protective vests after a man made threatening remarks to guards several years ago.
Union district director Assane Faye says the company that employs the guards never issued the vests. Wackenhut Security would say only that all officers were wearing appropriate equipment as specified in their contract.
Mayor of Washington D.C. Adrian M. Fenty said the capital was still an "open and safe" place for tourists. Speaking at a news conference outside the museum, he said the quick response by police to apprehend von Brunn "literally saved the lives of countless people."
Jacqueline Carter, talking about her son, put it this way:
"I'm glad that people think it was heroic, and I think it was too, but I would much rather have him alive."
They could not understand why the supermarket would not put their son's name - Adolf Hitler - on his birthday cake. They could not understand why naming all three of their children after Nazi names was such a big deal. They could also not understand why everyone thought they were racists just because they had swastikas all over their house. They really did not understand all the negative publicity they received. And one more thing - they don't know why New Jersey’s Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) came and removed all three children from their home.
To be fair to the CampbellsDYFS has not given a reason for removing the kids from the household. DYFS cited privacy concerns and has refused to provide any information about the case. DYFS did however say that they would not remove children from their parents just because of their names. A recently scheduled court appearance has been postponed, reportedly at the request of the parents, to give them time to find a lawyer.
In the meantime Heath Campbell is hospitalized due to stress and his wife Deborah gave the following interview:
Mr. Campbell had at least two of the children’s names legally changed in recent months. He dropped his son’s original first name, Antonio (Adolf and Hitler had been the middle names), so he is now Adolf Hitler Campbell, and fixed his daughter’s birth certificate to correct the spelling of “Aryan.”
The Campbells’ neighbors described a family living on the fringe, financially and socially. Mr. Campbell, 35, and his wife, Deborah, 25, do not work and receive disability payments for emphysema and neck pain, respectively. Their landlord, Larry Lippincott, who shares the two-family home, said the family is often up all night.
“I hear the kids playing at 2:30 in the morning and the TV on,” Mr. Lippincott said. “He told me he was a night person and didn’t like to do anything during the day.”
Mr. Lippincott said he had decided — before the cake incident — not to renew the Campbells’ lease when it expired in November because, he said, a relative they frequently argue with threatened to “firebomb the house.” He expects to begin eviction proceedings soon.
“They’re not destroying anything, the house is clean and they pay their rent on time,” he said. But, he added, “There comes a point when you say, ‘Enough is enough.’ ”
3-Year-Old Adolf Hitler Campbell and his two younger sisters JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell were removed from their parents home by New Jersey’s Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS), for unknown reasons. Kate Bernyk, a spokeswoman for the DYFS, said confidentiality laws barred her from commenting on the case or even confirming that the Campbell children were involved.
Little Adolf Hitler Campbell gained national notoriety when his father, Heath Campbell, tried to order a birthday cake with his son's name on it. The local ShopRite refused to inscribed the name "Adolf Hitler" on the cake, claiming that the name was offensive. Heath, who has named all three of his children after Nazi characters, eventually got the cake engraved with his son's name by a nearby Walmart.
Why the children were removed from the Campbell house remains a mystery. Sgt. John Harris of the Holland Township Police Department says, as far as he knows, there have been no problems with the Campbell family.
"I’ve dealt with the family for years and as far as the children are concerned, I have never had any reports of any abuse with the children," Harris said. "As far as I know, he’s always been very good with the children."
Even though DYFS spokeswoman, Kate Bernyk , would not comment specifically on the Campbell case she indicated that there was good reason for removing the children and that the action taken was in consultation with other pertinent authorities.
Speaking generally, Bernyk said the state's "decision to remove a child is based on the safety and well being of the child and the risk to that child, and that decision is made in conjunction with the courts and the county family court judge."
"DYFS would never remove a child simply based on that child's name," Bernyk said.
Whatever the reasons for removing the children, Heath Campbell, 35, and his wife, Deborah, 25, have an appointment in court to deal with this matter. Forensic psychologist N.G. Berrill said naming a boy Hitler could be considered child abuse.
"Part of it is the infantile nature of the parents’ behavior," Berrill said. "You can name your dog something weird, but they think they’re making some kind of bold statement with the children, not appreciating that the children will have separate lives and will be looked at in a negative light until they’re able to change their name. It is abuse."
The Campbell house is a monument to the Nazi's. There are swastikas prominently displayed in each room of their home. They say they aren’t racists but believe races shouldn’t mix. Heath says he named his son Adolf Hitler because he liked the name and because “no one else in the world would have that name.”
;)
Wednesday, November 4, 2009 at 3:44AM 
