After making a ruling to have a boy’s name changed from Messiah to Martin based on what she personally believed would be best for him, Judge Lu Ann Ballew has since been fired.
In August 2013, Jaleesa Martin of Newport, TN was ordered by Ballew to change her son’s first name from Messiah to Martin after appearing in court to discuss his last name. A month later, Chancellor Telford E. Forgety, Jr. overturned that decision stating that Ballew’s initial ruling was unconstitutional.
At the time of her decision, Ballew was a child support magistrate serving at the pleasure of the chief judge of Tennessee’s fourth judicial district. Judge Duane Slone appointed a new magistrate after terminating Ballew on February 1; he declined to comment on her termination. Ballew will face a March 3 hearing on the basis of her previous ruling in violation of Tennessee’s Code of Judicial Conduct. A code which “requires judges to perform all duties without bias or prejudice based on religion.”
According to CBS News, Ballew has denied that her ruling was in violation of that code.