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Harlan Bible Dedicated to School Board
(Baton Rouge) On Thursday, September 19, 2024, several retired judges joined Retired Judge Darrell White to dedicate a Harlan Tradition Bible. Judge White shared an anecdote concerning the very first education act in America, The “Old Deluder Satan Act,” enacted in 1647.
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Kerrville TX Municipal Court Judges Sign Bible
Kerrville, Texas (October 7, 2016) – The Kerrville Municipal Court has received a special donation from the American Judicial Alliance – a unique signatory Bible known as the “Harlan Bible.”
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n 1906, Justice John Marshall Harlan gave his personal copy of the Bible to the Supreme Court of the United States. Since that time it has become known as the “Harlan Bible” and is maintained by the court’s curator. The “Harlan Bible” is an Oxford Sunday School Teachers Edition King James Bible with blank pages for notes. Without exception, the Harlan Bible’s flyleaf pages have been signed by every justice in succession shortly after taking the oath of office.
Retired Judge Darrell White, head of the American Judicial Alliance, hopes to perpetuate this signatory tradition in courts throughout the United States. In early August, Judge White dedicated one such Bible to the Kerrville Municipal Court. This Bible is leather bound and gold embossed with the court’s name on the cover.
The American Judicial Alliance’s stated goal is to revive the notion that we are “one nation under God.” In this regard, Judge White personally dedicates Harlan Bibles to courts around the country as a reminder of the Judeo-Christian principles upon which the nation’s laws were founded. He has personally presented Harlan Bibles to the Texas Supreme Court, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, along with a host of other state, federal and municipal courts across the country.
“This has been an eye opening experience and I’m very glad that Judge White is doing this. I wasn’t even aware of that tradition at the United States Supreme Court, and I’ve been practicing now for 18 years,” said Kerrville Municipal Judge 
Patrick Maguire. “I think it’s important for all of us in this day and age to remember the foundations of our legal system and our society.”
Both Kerrville Municipal Judges Patrick Maguire and Mark Prislovsky have signed the Kerrville Municipal Court’s new copy of the Harlan Bible. The Bible will be kept at the Kerrville Municipal Court and eventually Judge Maguire hopes to be able to place the Bible on display.
“Scopes Courtroom” Hosts Harlan Bible Dedication
Local judges receive symbolic Bibles
Tennessee Circuit Court Judge Justin Angel holds newly presented “Harlan Bible” with Retired Judge Darrell White of the American Judicial Alliance holding Justice John Marshall Harlan’s Bible from 1906. (photo: Rhea Review)March 16, 2015
Dayton, Tenn. — Surrounded by the same walls which held “The World’s Most Famous Court Trial” nearly 90 years before, those in attendance witnessed a momentous occasion as three local judges each accepted a Bible from the American Judicial Alliance.
Retired Judge Darrell White at Rhea County Historic Courthouse. (photo: Rhea Review)
Retired Judge Darrell White, who on behalf of the AJA, presented the “Harlan Bibles” to Rhea County General Sessions Judge Shannon Garrison, Circuit Court Judge Justin Angel, and Chattanooga City Court Judge Russell Beene, says being at Rhea County’s Historic Courthouse was a dream come true.
“This is an honor of a lifetime,” White says. “I have literally looked forward to this as long as I have been interested in origin science and as long as I have been interested in law. To be here where William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow litigated that case. It’s just an answer to a prayer for me.”
The significance of the setting wasn’t lost others either. Rhea County Historical Committee chair Tom Davis said, “The Scopes’ Trial in large measure dealt with the very issue of where the Bible fits in real life.”
“I am grateful the AJA is here to present a Bible to our judges and hope it will be a guiding light for them,” said Davis.
An inspirational sense of humility appeared to overtake each judge as they received their Bible. Circuit Court Judge Justin Angel, who hears cases in Rhea and five other counties, stated he would like to see one in every courtroom in the 12th Judicial District.
“It’s a book I derive much guidance and wisdom,” Angel said. “I feel blessed to receive such a special Bible, knowing the history of the Harlan Bible.”
Thus far, White, a semi-retired judge from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has presented nearly 200 “Harlan Bibles” to judges across the country with hopes to have one in every courtroom in the nation.
About the “Harlan Bible”
The “Harlan Bible” is an Oxford Sunday School Teachers Edition King James Version Bible with blank pages for notes. In 1906, Justice John Marshall Harlan, I (1833-1911) gave his own Bible to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). It has become known as the “Harlan Bible” and is maintained by the Court’s Curator. Since its presentation, the Harlan Bible’s flyleaf pages have been signed by every justice in succession shortly after taking the oath of office.
According to the AJA website, Justice David Souter said that signing the Harlan Bible “was the most humbling thing that I have ever done in my entire life.” Justice Samuel Alito also wrote what a “thrilling and awe-inspiring moment” it was when he signed his name alongside “all the Justices for the past 100 years.” Justice Sonia Sotomayor said “taking the oath with my hand on Justice Harlan’s bible” was among the “most symbolically meaningful” activities of her investiture.
Wow! What a Tradition!
“WOW!”
“That’s the comment most often expressed as Americans learn that the Supreme Court of the United States has preserved a distinctively Biblical heritage by allowing incoming justices an opportunity to sign the flyleaf pages of an old Bible,” notes Retired Judges Darrell White, president of American Judicial Alliance. Our organization is now dedicating Bibles to every court in the United States of America.
The Bibles are being dedicated in replication of a heritage perpetuated in the United States Supreme Court for over one hundred years. One of America’s most interesting justices, John Marshall Harlan (1833-1911) began the veritable tradition by donating his personal Bible to the Court. Since that time, every Supreme Court Justice has signed the Harlan Bible’s flyleaf pages.
American Judicial Alliance (AJA) and its related organization, Retired Judges of America (RJA) are led by Retired Judge Darrell White and Jason Stern. Both men share a vision for “awakening the conscience of One Nation Under God” and for featuring the unmistakable link between the Bible and America’s Constitution and laws. Interestingly, the phrase, “awakening the conscience” appears in the Federal Code of Evidence and corresponding codes of virtually every state.
Support and coverage of AJA’s mission has come from Supreme Court justices, active and retired judges, newspapers, magazines, and concerned citizens.
Douglasville, Georgia Judges receiving their Bibles
Recent Gallup polling data shows that America’s confidence in our Supreme Court is on the decline. AJA, in keeping with the “Lawyer’s Oath,” seeks to “maintain the respect due to Courts of Justice and judicial officers.” In bringing its message across America, AJA gives special attention to the America’s “Rule of Law.”
As the organization moves out across the Nation, judges are receiving the Bibles with enthusiasm: “We are so grateful to receive this Bible into our Court. American Judicial Alliance’s Harlan Bible reminds us of John Marshall Harlan’s principled stand for a colorblind constitution (in Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896). This courageous justice, whose faith was not left at home when he sat on the bench, sets a worthy example for all of us to follow,” says Judge Barbara H. Caldwell, on behalf of the Magistrate Court of Douglas County, Georgia.
America’s Supreme Court Justices have acknowledged the importance of the Harlan Bible Tradition. Justice Samuel Alito recently wrote what a “thrilling and awe-inspiring moment” it was when he signed his name alongside “all the Justices for the past 100 years.” Former Justice David Souter has said that signing the Harlan Bible was the “most humbling thing he ever did.” And Justice Sonia Sotomayor acknowledged that taking her Judicial Oath on the Harlan Bible was among the “most symbolically meaningful” activities of her investiture.
“American Judicial Alliance intends to place a Bible in every court in America and to ask active and retired judges all across America to join the ‘Harlan tradition’ of signing the Bible and utilizing them in their courts,” says the group’s founder, Retired Judge Darrell White. “Every judge who is awakened to the Bible’s vital role in America’s heritage and its indispensable emphasis on the rule of law is another judge awakened to our future,” White concluded.
American Judicial Alliance is based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and has dedicated over 150 Bibles to courts in Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas, including the Supreme Courts of Louisiana and Texas, as well as several federal courts.
Federal Fifth Circuit Appellate Court Welcomes Bible!
“I plan to place our Bible prominently in the Chief Judge’s chamber in New Orleans as a reminder to all who visit that we, no less than the [U.S.] Supreme Court, remember our judgments are ultimately subject to a Divine standard.”
– Edith H. Jones, Chief Judge,
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
So wrote Chief Judge Edith H. Jones in a very kind letter to us at American Judicial Alliance after we placed a “Harlan” Bible in her hands for safekeeping.
Chief Judge Edith H. Jones, center, receives a Harlan Bible from Jason Stern (L) and Retired Judge Darrell White (R) for the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
This year, Jason Stern and I have traveled to several states dedicating Bibles to courts, sharing the message of the Gospel and the Constitution with churches and civic groups, but I must say that we were pleased to be allowed the privilege of dedicating a Bible to the highest federal court possible under the Supreme Court.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is composed of twenty one judges who rule on cases appealed from district courts located in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
While talking to Judge Jones, I made mention of America’s first Chief Justice John Jay’s name, which is chiseled on the lintel corner of the 5th Circuit’s building, and referenced Jay’s quote:
“The Bible is the best of all books, for it is the word of God and teaches us the way to be happy in this world and in the next. Continue therefore to read it and to regulate your life by its precepts.”
I couldn’t help but to also mention John Jay’s solid faith in the Bible as demonstrated by his last words. He was asked if he had anything he wanted his children to know, to which he replied,
“They have the Book.”
Aside from dedicating the Bible to the 5th Circuit, we also distributed laminated copies of the “Prayer for the Judge’s Bench,” which on the obverse side includes prayers by President George Washington and Chief Justice John Jay. Jay, who was a president of the American Bible Society, wrote:
“Most merciful Father! … Above all, I thank thee for thy mercy to our fallen race, as declared in thy holy gospel by thy beloved Son, “who gave himself a ransom for all.” …
Give me grace also to love my neighbor as myself, and wisely and diligently to do the duties incumbent upon me according to thy holy will, and because it is thy holy will, and not from worldly considerations …
Let thy Holy Spirit lead and keep me in the way in which I should walk, and enable me to commit myself entirely to thy kind and gracious providence and protection as to all my spiritual and temporal concerns….
These heartfelt words are from the pen of a fellow who had been President of the Continental Congress, an author of the Federalist Papers, Chief Justice of the United States, and Governor of New York.
It is our plan to continue to bring this message of hope, history and grace to courts all over America and give them courage to stand up for God like the Founding Fathers did!
“We have the Book!”
Your donations make this plan, and more, possible. Please remember us today by clicking here.
We have been hit by the same budgetary slump that faces all of America right now, but we know that a brighter day for our children and grandchildren can be around the corner if we do not give up hope.
“Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” – Galatians6:9
Thank you for allowing us to be your ambassadors.
Darrell White
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