Lawyers Call for Investigation Into Anti-Gay, Islamaphobic Coffee County DA

Coffee County District Attorney Craig Northcott has said that Muslims' "belief system is evil" and that he's not inclined to prosecute domestic assaults in same-sex marriages (which he doesn't recognize as legitimate). 

This has attracted the attention of national media. And it would be bad enough without the context that brought Northcott under scrutiny to begin with. Northcott was appointed special prosecutor to investigate the matter of whether House Speaker Glenn Casada's former chief of staff, Cade Cothren, submitted false evidence in an attempt to get activist Justin Jones thrown in jail. (As a result of their own scandals involving racist and sexist comments, Cothren resigned and Casada is set to step down from House leadership in August.)

Now hundreds of Tennessee attorneys have signed a letter condemning Northcott and calling on the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility to investigate his conduct. 

"We, the undersigned members and future-members of the Tennessee Bar, write to express our outrage and disappointment at Coffee County District Attorney Craig Northcott’s failure to uphold his oath of office, to maintain the ethical standards for licensed attorneys in this state or to protect the very citizens he is mandated to serve," the letter reads. 

After outlining Northcott's transgressions, the letter concludes: "We watch with deep distress as the actions of Mr. Northcott cast a cloud over the Bar’s reputation in the national spotlight. We call upon the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility to restore ethical leadership to Coffee County, to investigate the statements and actions of Mr. Northcott and to stand up for our highest ideals as members of the Tennessee Bar."  

Northcott's comments also prompted a complaint from the Muslim rights group, the Center for American-Islamic Relations.