Atheists Sue KY Jail for Not Complying with Night of Prayer Records Request

[NeoGreen]

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2018/01/30/atheists-sue-ky-jail-for-not-complying-with-night-of-prayer-records-request/

Atheists Sue KY Jail for Not Complying with “Night of Prayer” Records Request
January 30, 2018 by Hemant Mehta
75 Comments

Back in September, the Laurel County Correctional Center in Kentucky was in the news for sponsoring an event in response to drug abuse problem in the community.

Their proposed solution? Forming a prayer chain inside and outside the jail as prisoners watched.

That is why Laurel County Jailer Jamie Mosley and other concerned community members are hosting a “Night of Prayer” at the jail on Tuesday night, Aug. 29, at 7 p.m.

“We are asking every citizen and church in Laurel County to come join us in prayer for our inmates, their families, the victims of their crimes, and our staff,” Mosley said. “We all are affected by this villain in Laurel County called ‘drugs.’ We hope to form a prayer chain around each floor and around the entire jail.”

The event brought out approximately 600 people — and inmates were brought out by jail staff to witness it all.
At the time, the Freedom From Religion Foundation said in a letter to Mosley that this was all illegal:

The government cannot legally host a religious event in its facility, promote it in its official capacity, and involve its officials and employees in the event itself. Nor can it use a county jail, in which it literally has a captive audience, to proselytize.

The letter also pointed out that it was a problem to include uniformed staffers in the event since it suggested government endorsement of Christianity. Having the prisoners watch it all, the letter continued, was a coercive action as well. Attorney Andrew Seidel also noted that this was only the latest in a long line of constitutional violations for Mosley:

… We have learned that you have sought to reduce prison violence by increasing church services for inmates. You have also implemented Celebrate Recovery, an explicitly Christian twelve-step program. Finally, you claim that over 500 inmates have been baptized in your facility since you took over as jailer in 2011.

[get the red out]

1. Drug addiction problems

I hate it when religious institutions use (and play with) people's lives by promoting themselves as a legitimate solution to addiction issues. I worry about the current drug crisis becoming nothing but a means for Republicans to funnel more tax money into Churches and to allow Churches to have gigantic over-reach into our institutions.