(Newser)
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What sounds better to you: Having to attend church for 10 years, or going to prison for manslaughter? If you said the former, you're not the ACLU. Tyler Alred, 17, was behind the wheel in a 2011 alcohol-related crash that killed his passenger, and Oklahoma Judge Mike Norman last month offered Alred the opportunity to avoid hard time and be sentenced instead to probation—so long as he goes to church regularly for a decade, reports the Tulsa World. The ACLU yesterday filed a complaint against Norman, condemning "the level of disregard" he "showed towards the US Constitution and the constitution of the state of Oklahoma.”
The state's ACLU director explained that "we believe in a strong and independent judiciary. We didn’t file this complaint lightly." A state council comprised of judges and lawyers will decide whether it wants to recommend that action be taken against Norman.
