FFRF intervention clarifies faith-based Ohio juvenile program not approved

A recent Freedom From Religion Foundation’s investigation into a faith-based program slated for an Ohio juvenile facility revealed that it was never formally approved. It will not take place now.

FFRF wrote to the Trumbull County Juvenile Detention Center last month after receiving reports that a program called “MyTribe,” led by a Christian singer, songwriter and motivational speaker, was being introduced for detained minors. The state/church watchdog warned that implementing a religious program in a government-run correctional setting would violate the First Amendment and risk coercing vulnerable youth into religious participation.

In response to FFRF’s letter, officials clarified that the MyTribe program had not actually been approved or implemented by the detention center. The program appears to have been driven entirely and without authority by Trumbull County Family Court Judge David Engler, who publicly touted the initiative as a faith-based effort to provide guidance to detained youth. Engler’s official judicial biography explicitly states that he “credits his Christian faith in God” for his position on the bench.

Engler told a local news outlet that he was “partnering with Pastor Jason David to lead the MyTribe program.” The program was called MyTribe “because it follows the story of the 12 tribes of Israel in the Bible.” It raised serious concerns about grandstanding and the misuse of public office to advance one judge’s religious agenda.

“I know the power that can be found in finding religion, finding spirituality, finding Jesus,” said Engler in justification of the program. “For some of these young men and women, they don’t have a father figure in their life. And to get the message that there’s a father figure God that loves you unconditionally — no matter what you’ve done.”

FFRF pointed out the drawbacks of this Christianity-centered approach.

“Youth detainees are almost certain to feel coercive pressure to participate in the MyTribe program even if they are nonreligious or members of minority faiths,” wrote FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence. “When young offenders see authority figures encouraging detainee participation in this faith-based program created in part by a county judge, they will no doubt feel that participation is not just encouraged, but expected.”

The proposed program would have consisted of weekly sessions led by a pastor focusing on “character” and “personal growth,” with participation described as voluntary. However, FFRF emphasized in its letter that even voluntary religious programming in correctional settings can be inherently coercive, particularly for minors under state authority.

“This was an unconstitutional scheme to convert detainees who were not only minors, but also literally a captive audience,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “We are delighted that reason and the Constitution have prevailed, and that the program will not happen.”

FFRF will continue to advocate for constitutionally sound, secular programs that serve all youth regardless of religious belief.

“The Constitution requires neutrality, not promotion of religion,” Gaylor adds. “Public officials should focus on evidence-based, inclusive approaches to rehabilitation, not religious indoctrination.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 41,000 members and several chapters nationwide, including more than 1,100 members and two regional chapters in Ohio. FFRF’s purposes are to defend the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

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Freethought Radio – April 9, 2026

Theocrats are active in our federal government and also from beyond the moon! After FFRF staff attorney Sammi Lawrence describes recent state/church victories, we honor the life, words and legacy of Ishmael Jaffree, whose 1985 Supreme Court victory removed prayer and bible reading from public schools.

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FFRF ends prayer led by Ravenswood (W.Va.) City Council members

Ravenswood (W.Va.) City Council members will no longer deliver religious invocations at official meetings — thanks to the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s constitutional advocacy.

A concerned community member reported that at the Jan. 20 meeting, Council Member Todd Ritchie led a prayer to begin the public meeting. Mayor Josh Miller asked all attendees to stand, then asked either for a moment of silence for a member of the public to lead a prayer. Ritchie said he would “step out of his role” to lead the prayer, remaining at his spot on the council bench. He gave a Christian prayer, directing it to the “Heavenly Father” and ending with “in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.” 

Because a 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals precedent specifically weighed in against prayer led by local legislators, FFRF wrote a letter to the mayor asking that council-led prayers not become a practice at council meetings. As a policy, FFRF opposes any governmental prayer as exclusionary and inappropriate, and no city or county governmental body is required to open meetings with religious ritual.

“City Council members are free to pray privately or to worship on their own time in their own way,” FFRF Patrick O’Reiley Legal Fellow Charlotte R. Gude stated. “They do not need to worship on taxpayers’ time.” 

Citizens, including Ravenswood’s nonreligious and minority faith citizens, may be compelled to come before the City Council on important civic matters and to participate in serious decisions affecting their livelihoods, property, children and quality of life, FFRF pointed out. Exclusively Christian prayers marginalize community members belonging to the 34 percent of West Virginians who are non-Christians, including the nearly one in three adult residents of the state who are religiously unaffiliated. It is coercive, embarrassing and intimidating for nonreligious individuals and members of minority religions to be required to make a public showing of their nonbelief (by not rising or praying) or else to display deference toward a religious sentiment in which they do not believe, but which their city council members clearly do.

Thankfully, FFRF’s work paid off. 

Miller responded to the state/church watchdog’s concern noting that the city has taken action to prevent further council-led prayers. “Members of the council have been apprised of the law as a result of your correspondence and will no longer offer an invocation or prayer either prior to or during any council meeting,” Miller replied in an official letter.

FFRF is always ready to rise to the occasion when government officials misuse their position for the sake of religion.

“FFRF knows that council-led religious invocations are inherently exclusionary,” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor notes. “No one deserves to feel like an outsider just because one council member wants to deliver a prayer.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 41,000 members nationwide, including more than 100 members in West Virginia. FFRF’s purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

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FFRF rebukes USDA Secretary for Easter ‘rant’ to government workers

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is calling out U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins for sending an explicitly Christian devotional email, apparently to almost 100,000 USDA employees.

FFRF has received multiple complaints from USDA staff regarding the April 5 message, sent as an official message from the “Office of the Secretary OSEC,” which proclaimed Easter as “the greatest story ever told, the foundation of our faith, and the abiding hope of all mankind.”

FFRF has sent a formal letter to Secretary Rollins demanding that she refrain from using official communications to promote her personal religious beliefs in the future.

The purely scriptural message was headlined: “Happy Easter – He is Risen indeed!” Rollins’ email went far beyond a simple greeting, instead delivering an extended theological message about Jesus’ resurrection, sin and salvation, and invoking other explicitly Christian doctrine.

Rollins reiterated Christian faith as fact, writing: “From the foot of the Cross on Good Friday to the stone rolled away from the now empty tomb, sin has been destroyed. Jesus has been raised from the dead. And God has granted each of us victory and new life. And where there is life — risen life—there is hope.”

Then Rollins counseled: “No matter the very real trials and hardships we face, fear and sin and death do not get the last word. Because on Easter morning, ‘Hell took a body, and discovered God. It took earth, and encountered Heaven. It took what it saw, and was overcome by what it did not see.’ Now that is reason to rejoice!”

Continuing in this vein, Rollins sermonized: “And so like the very first disciples to encounter our risen Lord in the Upper Room almost two thousand years ago, this Easter let us too be alive with hope, full of Paschal joy, and confident in the mission each of us has been called for.”

Finally, Rollins ended with this devotional wish: “I hope you and your loved ones have a truly blessed and happy Easter. May God continue to bless you, your families, and our exceptional country, One Nation, Under God.”

Employees who contacted FFRF described the message as inappropriate and insulting, noting that public servants should not be confronted with overtly religious messaging from the head of a federal agency. Those affronted and excluded by Rollins’ rant would include significant numbers, since 29 percent of U.S. adults identify as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular,” Another 7 percent subscribe to non-Christian faiths. Additionally, many federal employees, regardless of personal beliefs, would be shocked by Rollins’ disregard of the separation between religion and government.

Writes FFRF Legal Counsel Chris Line: “No government employee should be subjected to religious preaching as part of workplace communications. By framing Easter as part of ‘the foundation of our faith,’ your message signals governmental endorsement of Christianity and conveys to employees that adherence to a particular religion is favored.”

Reminds FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor,“No federal employee should be subjected to a Christian sermon from a cabinet secretary. Our secular Constitution bars a religious test for public office, and certainly bars a religious test to be a USDA employee.

“To see such an inappropriate message — using official email channels and the imprimatur of our federal government,” adds Gaylor, “really shows that Christian nationalism has run amok in the Trump Administration.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to defending the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters relating to nontheism. With more than 41,000 members, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org.

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FFRF asks Florida AG to follow the Constitution — or resign

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is decrying a recent memorandum from the Florida attorney general that announces a refusal to enforce the Florida Constitution’s clear prohibition on public funding of religion.

In an April 2 memo, Attorney General James Uthmeier declared that his office will not enforce Article I, Section 3, of the Florida Constitution, which explicitly states that no public funds “shall ever be taken from the public treasury directly or indirectly in aid of any church, sect, or religious denomination.” FFRF has sent a formal letter to Uthmeier demanding that he reverse course and fulfill his duty to uphold Florida law. The state/church watchdog is calling the memo a breathtaking abuse of office and warning that it represents a direct attack on both the rule of law and religious freedom.

“Attorney General Uthmeier does not get to pick and choose which parts of the Florida Constitution he feels like enforcing,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “His refusal to uphold this clear constitutional provision is not only legally baseless, but also a dereliction of duty.”

FFRF notes that Florida’s no-aid clause reflects the will of the state’s citizens in making certain that taxpayer dollars are not used to fund religious institutions. Nothing in the U.S. Constitution requires states to subsidize religion — and longstanding constitutional principles allow states to adopt stronger protections for church-state separation.

This is not an isolated incident. FFRF has previously criticized Uthmeier for a series of misleading and unconstitutional actions in which he falsely accused private companies, professional organizations and local governments of “anti-Christian discrimination.” In November, he targeted entities including Microsoft, the American Bar Association and the city of Pensacola, advancing similarly baseless claims that collapse under even basic constitutional scrutiny.

“Florida is not a Christian state, and the United States is not a Christian nation,” FFRF Legal Counsel Chris Line told a reporter for USA Today at the time. “These actions are completely inappropriate. They show the attorney general is willing to use government authority to advance a narrow form of Christianity.”

FFRF is also criticizing Uthmeier’s recent memo for advancing a distorted and historically inaccurate view of the First Amendment, including claims that the government may “encourage” Christianity and that Christianity occupies a privileged place in the nation’s constitutional order.

“That is flatly wrong,” says Gaylor. “The First Amendment forbids the government from favoring religion over nonreligion or privileging one faith over another. Suggesting otherwise is not constitutional interpretation — it’s Christian nationalism.”

FFRF is additionally cautioning that Uthmeier’s attempt to justify directing taxpayer funds to religious charter schools fundamentally misrepresents recent Supreme Court decisions. Cases such as Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue and Carson v. Makin do not require states to fund religious instruction or dismantle constitutional safeguards against government support of religion.

“Public schools are not private grant programs,” Gaylor says. “They are government entities, and they must remain secular.”

FFRF emphasizes this point in its letter.

“Floridians of all faiths and none deserve a government that respects both religious freedom and constitutional limits.,” Line writes. “That requires keeping public funds for public purposes and out of the collection plate.”

FFRF is calling on Uthmeier to resign if he is unwilling to carry out his constitutional obligations.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 41,000 members and several chapters nationwide, including more than 2,000 members and a chapter in Florida, Central Florida Freethought Community. FFRF’s purposes are to defend the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

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FFRF blasts Florida’s unconstitutional school ‘prayer hotline’

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is warning that a newly announced Florida Department of Education complaint system threatens to undermine constitutional protections.

In a letter sent to Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas, FFRF outlined serious concerns about the department’s new reporting process, which invites parents and community members to file complaints alleging that prayer or religious expression is being restricted in public schools. FFRF is cautioning that this encourages religious activity in public schools while ignoring the right of students to be free from religious coercion. While the department claims the system is intended to safeguard religious freedom, FFRF says that it presents a dangerously one-sided view of the law.

“As the U.S. Department of Education’s own guidance acknowledges, schools may not sponsor or appear to favor religious activity,” FFRF Legal Counsel Chris Line writes. “Yet the [Florida] Department’s new reporting mechanism focuses exclusively on alleged restrictions of religious expression, without any parallel mechanism to address violations of the Establishment Clause.”

This imbalance, FFRF contends, risks misleading school officials and emboldening unconstitutional conduct. “The department’s approach sends a clear message that the state is more concerned with expanding religious activity than preventing its unconstitutional imposition,” the letter states.

FFRF notes that students already have the right to engage in private, voluntary religious expression. However, the Constitution prohibits public schools from endorsing or promoting religion, particularly through the actions of teachers and staff, whose authority can exert coercive pressure on students.

Each year, FFRF receives numerous complaints from Florida families regarding violations of state/church separation in public schools. In 2025 alone, the national watchdog received more than 80 complaints about entanglements in Florida schools, many of which concerned school-sponsored prayer and staff-led religious activity. “Given the inherent power imbalance between students and school officials, even subtle religious activity can become coercive,” FFRF emphasizes.

The organization is particularly concerned that the complaint system could encourage educators to push the boundaries of the law, mistakenly believing they are permitted to lead or participate in religious activities with students. “The result will likely be increased religious coercion, especially affecting younger students,” FFRF warns.

“Longstanding Supreme Court precedent affirms that public schools must remain free from religious indoctrination,” notes FFRF Co-President Dan Barker, “and ensures that families, not government officials, have the right to direct their own children’s religious upbringing.”

FFRF is urging the Florida Department of Education to reconsider the complaint process and to ensure that any guidance fully reflects the Constitution’s requirement of neutrality. If the department fails to uphold students’ constitutional rights, FFRF stands ready to step in to protect freedom of conscience and urges parents and students to report violations directly to FFRF’s legal team.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 41,000 members and several chapters nationwide, including more than 2,000 members and a chapter in Florida. FFRF’s purposes are to defend the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

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Freethought Radio – April 2, 2026

Attorney Sam Grover describes FFRF’s court victory demanding the removal of the Ten Commandments from the Arkansas capitol. Then, activist Lucas F. W. Wilson, a survivor of “conversion therapy,” discusses his book “Shame-Sex Attraction: Survivors’ Stories of Conversion Therapy.”

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FFRF’s Chicago chapter puts up secular display at the Daley Center Plaza

The Freedom From Religion Foundation’s Metropolitan Chicago Chapter has set up a display at the Daley Center Plaza in Chicago to counter Easter activities there.

Each year, the chapter erects a banner display to protest a Catholic prayer shrine and worship service taking place annually on the city plaza during the Christian “holy week.” The Catholic organization responsible for the service has insisted on using taxpayer property as a platform to proselytize its religion and convert others to its belief system. The Freedom From Religion Foundation has long disagreed with and fought to prevent such public forums, which serve mainly to provide a voice to religion. Proving that point is the fact that the FFRF banner was stolen two years in broad daylight, showing that such so-called public forums are viewed as belonging to the dominant religion.

The banner proclaims quotes supportive of the separation of state and church by Presidents Kennedy and Reagan and reads:
Keep religion in a place of worship — Not on secular government property
“I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute.”
John F. Kennedy, Sept. 12, 1960
“We establish no religion in this country. … Church and state are and must remain separate.”
Ronald Reagan, Oct. 26, 1984

Thanks to the awesome team of volunteers who braved the cold, windy temperatures, the FFRF banner was set up on Wednesday, April 1, in the afternoon at Chicago’s Daley Center Plaza, and will be on display for one week.

FFRF thanks chapter members for their work in setting up the display, pictured from left to right: Brian Emerick, Bob Hunter, Jeff Kramer and Manuel Beltran. Not pictured are Steve Foulkes, who also assisted with the setup, and Bob Elmore, who kindly took the photos.

“Taxpayers of all faiths, and no faith, should be free from government influence regarding their religious beliefs, or lack thereof. Just as important, religions of any tradition should have no influence regarding the legislation of our laws and public policy,” FFRF Metropolitan Chicago Chapter Associate Executive Director Tom Cara says. “Our deepest appreciation goes out to each of [the volunteers] for their staunch activism toward maintaining the wall of separation between state and religion. Our thanks as well to the national Freedom From Religion Foundation for funding the required (and costly!) permit fee for Daley Center Plaza displays.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 41,000 members and several chapters nationwide, including more than 1,400 members and a chapter in Illinois. FFRF’s purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

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Texas’ new “Religious Liberty” committee is another Christian power grab

Friendly Atheist
By Hemant Mehta

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Breaking — FFRF court victory! Federal judge rules Arkansas Ten Commandments monument unconstitutional

The Freedom From Religion Foundation and its co-plaintiffs have secured a major First Amendment victory after a federal court’s ruling that a Ten Commandments monument at the Arkansas Capitol is unconstitutional and must be removed.

In a sweeping decision issued late Tuesday, March 31, U.S. District Judge Kristine G. Baker struck down the state law mandating the monument and ordered that it be taken down, concluding that both the law and the display violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The ruling marks the culmination of nearly eight years of litigation brought by FFRF, the American Humanist Association, the Arkansas Society of Freethinkers and a diverse group of Arkansas plaintiffs alongside a parallel challenge by the ACLU of Arkansas. Separately, the Satanic Temple and its members had brought First Amendment and Equal Protection claims.

“Based on the undisputed record evidence,” the court held, “the Display Act and the Ten Commandments Monument violate the Establishment Clause.” The court further found that the state’s actions failed to avoid “excessive government entanglement with religion” and that the monument was “discriminatory and coercive.”

Arkansas lawmakers passed the Display Act in 2015, spearheaded by then-state Sen. Jason Rapert, to install a privately funded Ten Commandments monument on Capitol grounds. The monument was first installed in 2017, destroyed a day later, and replaced in 2018. Lawsuits followed immediately, challenging the display as an unconstitutional government endorsement of religion.

The court agreed, emphasizing both the inherently religious nature of the Ten Commandments and the state’s clear preference for Christianity. Evidence showed that Arkansas officials rejected requests from non-Christian groups seeking equal access to place their own monuments, reinforcing the court’s conclusion that the state engaged in unconstitutional religious favoritism. The decision distinguishes Arkansas’ display from monuments upheld in other contexts, noting that this stand-alone religious monument does not reflect a broader historical tradition but instead advances a specific religious message.

“The state of Arkansas has no business telling citizens which gods to worship — or whether to worship at all. The First Commandment is a direct violation of the First Amendment,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “We are delighted the court recognizes that placing a biblical monument at the seat of government violates one of our most fundamental constitutional protections.”

FFRF Senior Counsel Sam Grover adds, “This ruling reaffirms that the government must remain neutral when it comes to religion. That neutrality is essential to protecting the rights of all citizens, regardless of their beliefs.”

“We celebrate this monumental victory for true religious freedom,” says American Humanist Association Legal Director Amitai Heller. “State capitols should be welcoming to all citizens, and this ruling rightfully rejects this effort to promote one specific set of religious beliefs above all others — including the right to not believe at all. This decision affirms the First Amendment’s bedrock constitutional principle of church-state separation, which ensures these very freedoms.”

The plaintiffs in the case reflect a broad cross-section of Arkansans. Anne Orsi — longtime member of FFRF — is an agnostic atheist. Eugene Levy is a rabbi. Gale Stewart is an ordained elder in the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A.. Teresa Gryder is a Wiccan. All of them have the necessity and occasion to visit the Capitol grounds regularly, and come into contact with the biblical monolith.

The order to remove the monument is stayed pending appeal.

Attorney Gerry Schulze of Little Rock alongside FFRF Senior Counsel Sam Grover, FFRF Legal Director Patrick Elliott and attorneys from the American Humanist Association represented the plaintiffs.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to defending the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters relating to nontheism. With more than 41,000 members and several chapters nationwide, including hundreds of members and a chapter in Arkansas, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org.

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