The Lawyer's Tale

A collection of sermons by a prosecuting attorney who lost his job when he found he could not argue for the death penalty, but found a home in ministry.

Stewart Schneider received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Kentucky in 1972. For the remainder of his career, he served as a prosecuting attorney, first for the City of Ashland, Kentucky, then as an Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney, and finally as the Commonwealth's Attorney for Kentucky's 32nd Judicial Circuit. He held the office for 13 years until 2005 when he was presented with a death-qualified case for the first time. To his surprise, he found that he could not argue for the death penalty because of his conviction that such an action is contrary to the teaching of Jesus Christ. As a result, he was voted out of office in 2005. Since 2006, he has served as Stated Supply for Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky.