Court rejects Satanist's discrimination appeal

Does religion have a place in the courtroom? For example, if a convicted murderer is a Satanist, is that relevant?
October 04, 2010

Last week, a Texas court ruled yes.

An appellate court in El Paso upheld its ruling for an inmate who argued that revealing his affiliation with the Church of Satan prejudiced the jury who sentenced him to death row, the blog Religion Clause reported.

Last week, the court issued an opinion saying the evidence of defendant Irving Davis' Satanism was relevant to the case and did not violate his Constitutional freedoms. In this situation, his religion was indicative of his character, and its value in the trial outweighed the risk of unfair prejudice.

Davis was convicted of raping and killing a 15-year-old. He began to identify as a Satanist/Vampirist while in prison. the rest