Gwinnett County (GA) judge Mark A. Lewis has begun proceedings every day since September 11, 2001 by inviting those in the courtroom to join him in saying the Pledge of Allegiance. It’s voluntary. And to one Atlanta attorney, offensive: Donald A. Weissman, who is representing a client before Lewis, asked the judge to stop the practice, or recuse himself (which Judge Lewis did after Weissman filed a complaint against him with the state Judicial Qualifications Commission). According to today’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “Weissman said he’s concerned that failure to recite the pledge could affect fairness in the courtroom. ‘The more I thought about it, the more concerned I became about whether people in the courtroom might perceive some degree of partiality based upon whether your loyalty is to the United States or not,’ he said.” God protect us from ourselves. You can read the full AJC article here (but you’ve got to sign up first).