North Carolina law directs witnesses to take an oath to God affirming their veracity on the witness stand. A judge there didn't like this, so he removed the reference to God. He also didn't like bailiffs opening court sessions by announcing, "God save the state and this honorable court." So, he threatened bailiffs with citing them for contempt of court if they continued using the phrase.

County officials in North Carolina objected to Judge James Honeycutt's heavy-handed courtroom lawlessness. They took him to court and won. The North Carolina Supreme Court yesterday ordered the law-breaking judge to use the oath as directed by North Carolina statute, and to allow bailiffs to refer to God when opening sessions of the court. In other words, the court reaffirmed what every student of third-grade civics class knows: the legislative branch, not the judiciary, makes law.

A satisfied Davidson County Clerk of the Court Brian Shipwash noted, "I think this decision returns this court to the people instead of like a dictatorship of one judge."