From North Carolina-An Episcopal priest is barred from ministering to inmates at the Mecklenburg County jail because she was arrested during a “Moral Monday” protest at the state legislature.
“It was like a slap in the face,” said the Rev. Jane Holmes. “I love doing what I’m doing.”
Reverend Jane, inmates called her.
She is 72, a retired accountant who was ordained in 2004 and helps minister to 31 Episcopal churches and hospital patients.
Holmes was arrested on the evening of June 3 in the halls of the General Assembly building in Raleigh. Back home in Charlotte the next morning, she got a call from the chaplains’ office for the jail. She said she was told that her clergy privileges were being revoked because of her arrest and that she needed to return her badges immediately.
Asked why Holmes is barred as a jail chaplain, a spokesperson for Sheriff Chipp Bailey said in a statement: “The sheriff absolutely supports a person’s right to peacefully protest their convictions. However, he will not allow a person who is an employee or volunteer representing the sheriff or his office to willfully disobey a legal directive given by a law enforcement officer and get arrested.
“It is disrespectful to the badge and authority of law enforcement officers across the state. He and citizens hold Sheriff’s Office employees to a higher standard and expect all to obey the law.”
Read more here:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/07/09/3020371/mecklenburg-removes-jail-chaplain.html#storylink=cpy
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