Wednesday, the Foundation for Moral Law responded to charges by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, that Covington County Sheriff Blake Turman had violated the constitutional prohibition against establishing a state religion by talking about God on his Facebook page. The FFRF further demands that Covington County Sheriff Blake Turman cease talking about God on his Facebook page.
The Foundation for Moral Law stated that it believes that the FFRF’s claims are meritless.
On June 20, 2019, the FFRF sent Turman a demand letter, claiming that some of his Facebook posts, which talked about God, violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Because Turman was posting on a page titled, “Covington County Sheriffs Office,” the FFRF claimed that Turman was impermissibly endorsing religion.
The Foundation for Moral Law, noting that the Supreme Court upheld the public display of a cross in a 7-2 decision on the same day the FFRF sent its letter, states that they believes the FFRF’s threats are meritless.
Foundation attorney Matt Clark said, “In American Legion, five Justices on the Supreme Court (the four-justice plurality plus Justice Thomas) seemed to agree that the FFRF’s approach no longer applies in cases involving monuments, ceremonies, and similar means where God is publicly acknowledged in a noncoercive way. The Court appears to be more focused on history and tradition now than whether the government appears to be endorsing a religion.”
Foundation President Kayla Moore said, “Our Declaration of Independence acknowledges God as the source of our liberties. The Freedom From Religion Foundation needs to stop threatening Alabamians who want to exercise their unalienable right to honor God in the same way that the Founders did.”
The Montgomery based Foundation for Moral Law is a nonprofit law firm dedicated to defending religious freedom. It was founded by former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, the husband of Kayla Moore.
Roy Moore is presently a candidate for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Doug Jones, D-Alabama. Jones narrowly defeated Moore in a special election in 2017. The Republican primary will be on March 3.
