Religion & American Law

Kentucky, Homeland Security, and... God?

The state of Kentucky has been at the center of many legal battles involving religious issues over the years. Recently, Kentucky has made the news with a case involving Kentucky’s Office of Homeland Security and the role that the establishment clause plays in our legal system.

On October 23, 2011, the Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled in a split decision that the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security has the right to publicly declare a dependence on "Almighty God" as being vital for the security of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Two important cases in Kentucky led this most recent case, both involving religion and the establishment clause. The first was a legislative finding in 2002 that claimed the security of the commonwealth cannot be achieved without reliance upon Almighty God. The second was an act from 2006 that required the executive director of the Office of Homeland Security to publicize a “dependence on Almighty God” in various training and educational materials. The act also allowed a Bible verse to be displayed on a plaque located at the entrance of the department’s emergency operations center. The verse on the plaque reads: "Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain."

This October the court ruled in a split decision that 1) the Homeland Security director is not required to believe in an "Almighty God" and 2) no one is required to read the plaque at the entrance of the department’s emergency operations center. The decision stressed that the preambles to 44 states reference "a Supreme Being," while three other states have establishment clauses that refer explicitly to God or "speak approvingly of religion."

The ruling added that there has been no Kentucky case that has “prohibited a statutory reference to God of the sort embodied in the statutes in question… That rationale would place this section at odds with the (Kentucky) Constitution’s Preamble.” (The preamble of the Kentucky Constitution thanks “Almighty God” for the welfare of the commonwealth)

This most recent decision made by the Kentucky Court of Appeals in 2011 overturned a 2009 ruling by a state circuit judge who found that legislation requiring the state to recognize the Almighty “created an official government position on God,” that violates both the Kentucky and U.S constitutions’ bans on state-established religion.

The conflict in this Kentucky court case is a testament to the important and often controversial role that religion plays in contemporary legal, political and public issues. The inherent issue in this case involves the establishment clause of the First Amendment, and questions whether publicly acknowledging a dependence on “Almighty God” for homeland security and publicly displaying a Bible verse at a state-run department demonstrates an establishment of religion.

Personally, I do not agree with the ruling in this case. Although it is often tough to discern what does/does not violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment, the references to religion by the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security are blatant violations of this clause in my opinion. Simply saying that the director of the Office of Homeland Security “doesn't need to” believe in an Almighty God and saying that visitors to the agency's emergency operations center "don't need to look" at the Bible verse on the plaque at its entrance are not legitimate excuses against the establishment clause.

The decision made in Stone v. Graham (1980) that we discussed in class helps in assessing this case in Kentucky. In Stone v. Graham, the court held that the posting of the 10 commandments in public school classrooms was “plainly religious in nature,” and thus a direct violation of the establishment clause. In my opinion, by publicly declaring a “dependence on Almighty God” and by displaying a verse from the Bible in a public place, Kentucky’s Department of Homeland Security is violating the establishment clause. No government or state-run organization should publicly impose any faith-based material in any aspect of their operations on the public.

It will be interesting to see how the court's decision will influence the relationship between church and state in the United States, and how cases involving the establishment clause are dealt with in the future.

Additional sources:

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/bbcb103beee74c7aa96b3dd3916955db/KY--God-Reference/

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,460889,00.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Tl5NhdtL8Y

About : Raja CRN

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