The Freedom From Religion Foundation is asking the Grundy County Sheriff’s Department in Morris, Ill., to disband an unconstitutional chaplaincy program.
A concerned Grundy County resident has informed the state/church watchdog that the department employs a chaplain who is part of an official chaplaincy program. The department’s official chaplain is Pastor Steve Larson of First Baptist Church in Morris. In a recent Facebook post, Larson said: “As the chaplain, I am so thankful that I can point us to Jesus.” In his official capacity, Larson led a crowd of 60 in sectarian prayer at a department event a few months ago.
Police chaplaincy programs demonstrate a preference for religion over nonreligion, and one religion over all others. That is unconstitutional, FFRF emphasizes.
“The First Amendment’s Establishment Clause — which protects Americans’ religious freedom by ensuring the continued separation of religion and government — dictates that the government cannot in any way show favoritism toward religion,” FFRF Patrick O’Reiley Legal Fellow Hirsh M. Joshi has written to Grundy County Sheriff Ken Briley. “As the Supreme Court has stated, ‘The First Amendment mandates governmental neutrality between religion and religion, and between religion and nonreligion.’”
Law enforcement chaplaincy programs also violate Illinois’ constitutional provisions requiring the separation of church and state. Illinois’ Establishment Clause reads: “No person shall be required to attend or support any ministry or place of worship against his consent, nor shall any preference be given by law to any religious denomination or mode of worship.” That stands as an independent constitutional reason to dissolve the chaplaincy program.
There is a problem regarding inclusivity, too. Those Grundy County Sheriff’s Department employees who do not share Pastor Larson’s religious beliefs will necessarily feel uncomfortable disclosing certain traumas or worries with him. The benefit that Larson might provide is therefore only received by those employees who share his faith. That is expressly prohibited by federal and state employment discrimination laws.
The Grundy County Sheriff’s Department needs to dissolve its chaplaincy program, FFRF is insisting. Instead, community resources or licensed therapists who have certifications in counseling should be the first resort for vulnerable people, law enforcement and their families.
“Sectarian chaplaincy programs that are exclusionary by nature have no positive role to play in this day and age in public-supported positions,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Almost a third of the population today has no religious affiliation, and those who do are free to seek out the clergyperson of their choice on their own time.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 40,000 members and several chapters across the country, including more than 1,100 members and a Chicago-area chapter in Illinois. Our purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.
