Judge orders man to attend church services

Does "separation of church and state" mean that churches can substitute for jails? Well, why not? They're already expected to fill in the gaps of social wellfare and medical care (e.g. hospitals). Apparently they can replace jail time. A man in Cincinatti was conviccted of racially motivated threats. The judge told him he could either go to jail or attend black churches for a while:

A judge gave Brett Haines a choice Friday: Go to jail or go to church.

The Anderson Township man, convicted of disorderly conduct, immediately chose six weeks of Sunday worship over 30 days in the Hamilton County Justice Center.

But there’s a catch.

Haines, who was accused of using racial slurs and threatening a black cab driver, must attend services at any one of Cincinnati’s predominantly African-American churches.

“It seems readily apparent to me that you don’t like black people,” Judge William Mallory Jr. told Haines. “That’s OK with me. But you have to understand that you are at the whim and authority of a black judge.”

...

Mallory said he was concerned about maintaining a separation between church and state, so he asked Haines if the option would offend his beliefs.

Haines said he was not a church-going man but would like to give it a try.

“Absolutely,” he said when given the choice.

His lawyer, Dennis Deters, said his client told him the sentence might do him some good, and assistant prosecutor Kirstin Fullen raised no objection.

...

Wilson [the cab driver] said he hoped the sentence would work, but he would have preferred Haines serve his 30 days.

“Church don’t change everybody,” he said.

Perhaps one day the churches will serve as complete alternative governments. You can go to jail, or you can go to church. You can go to the municipal court, or to the religious court. You can pay taxes or you can tithe. It'll work out just fine.