Judge who ordered parents to change baby's name from Messiah to Martin is fired

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Lu Ann Ballew was terminated from Tennessee's fourth judicial district
on Friday
Ballew, an attorney, still faces a March 3 hearing on accusations that she violated Tennessee's Code of Judicial Conduct

PUBLISHED: 16:45 EST, 4 February 2014 | UPDATED: 17:29 EST, 4 February 2014

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Lu Ann Ballew was terminated from the Tennessee court on Friday

A Tennessee magistrate has been replaced months after ordering a baby's name changed from Messiah to Martin because she believes Messiah is a title held only by Jesus Christ.

Lu Ann Ballew was a child support magistrate, serving at the pleasure of the chief judge of Tennessee's fourth judicial district.

Judge Duane Slone terminated Ballew on Friday and appointed a new magistrate.

He did not return calls seeking comment, and his order does not explain why he ended Ballew's appointment.

Ballew, an attorney, still faces a March 3 hearing on accusations that she violated Tennessee's Code of Judicial Conduct, according to WBIR.

Among other things, the code requires judges to perform all duties without bias or prejudice based on religion.

Ballew's August name change decision was overturned at a September hearing.

Ballew ordered the name change during a paternity hearing in Newport on August 8.

At the time, the parents were disputing the 8-month-old baby's surname.

The boy's mother, Jaleesa Martin, hoped to keep the name she had given the boy- Messiah Deshawn Martin - and father, Jawaan McCullough, wanted the baby to bear his last name.

Ballew surprised both parents by ordering the baby's name be changed to Martin Deshawn McCullough, saying the name Messiah was not in the baby's best interest.

Mother Jaleesa Martin had her son's name changed from Messiah to Martin in court. The judge who made the decision has since been fired

Name changer: A judge in eastern Tennessee changed the boy's first name to Martin from Messiah

Name changer: A judge in eastern Tennessee ordered for the baby boy's first name to Martin from Messiah

Her written order said: 'Messiah is a title that is held only by Jesus Christ.'

'Labeling this child "Messiah" places an undue burden on him that as a human being, he cannot fulfill,' the order said.

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Ballew further stated that 'it is highly likely that he will offend many Cocke County citizens by calling himself "Messiah''.

That decision was overturned in Cocke County Chancery Court the following month, with the judge saying that Ballew's ruling violated the U.S. Constitution.

Parents Jawaan McCullough, left, and Jaleesa Martin, center, had been debating their child's surname in court last August when the judge changed the child's first name from Messiah to Martin

Hearing set for judge in 'Messiah' baby case

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OttO, River Falls, WI, 4 hours ago

And now on to the couple who names their kids after famous Nazis and had the kids taken away from them. I share the judges sentiments (in both situations) but am fearful of courts digging this deep into personal family matters.

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Painpour, Canal Winchester, United States, 4 hours ago

1 judge down and hundreds more to go. Too many judges think their job is to legislate whether it be making up laws or dishing out morality.

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Alexandra, Midwest, United States, 5 hours ago

I knew a five year old boy whose legal given name was Lord Michael, and his father insisted he be called by both names at school, as in, "Lord Michael, please read the next page." We all had suspicions about what kind of a lord his father was and it wasn't a landlord or an upper case lord.

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Molly, Appalachia, United States, 5 hours ago

Glad she got the boot--definitely overstepped. The name is absurd, but he will hate his parents for it soon enough and will probably petition to have it changed himself.

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Louise, San Jose, United States, 5 hours ago

A) That judge was SOOO wrong to use her power and position to rename a child on her own whim B) Naming your child Messiah is just asking to get the bible-banger's, the zealots and any other extremely easily offended and religious person all worked up. That's a huge burden to lay on the kid. But it's his parents choice to do that to their child, not the judge C) On the other hand, we have people called Mohammed, Jesus, Moses...what's wrong with calling a kid Messiah