Atheist group targets 'In God We Trust' on police cars

ADF sends 17 police departments letters explaining that displaying national motto is constitutional

Thursday, Aug 20, 2015

Attorney sound bites:  Matt Sharp #1  |  Matt Sharp #2

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Alliance Defending Freedom sent letters Tuesday to 17 sheriff’s offices and police departments across the nation after they received complaints from an atheist group wrongly stating that displaying the official U.S. national motto, “In God We Trust,” on department vehicles is unconstitutional.

“Americans should not be forced to abandon their heritage simply to appease the animosity of anti-religious groups toward anything that references God,” said ADF Legal Counsel Matt Sharp. “These departments should simply ignore the unfounded demands from these groups, especially since courts have upheld the national motto in a wide variety of other contexts for decades.”
 
“Decisions from federal courts have repeatedly and consistently rejected claims that use of the national motto violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment,” the ADF letter explains, noting that, as a federal appeals court has ruled, “The motto symbolizes the historical role of religion in our society, formalizes our medium of exchange, fosters patriotism, and expresses confidence in the future. The motto’s primary effect is not to advance religion.”
 
“Many of these same motives underlay the decision by your department and others across the country to display the national motto on vehicles: promoting patriotism; acknowledging the role of religion in our society; and acknowledging the longstanding historical practice of seeking divine protection for those in harm’s way,” the letter continues.

ADF sent letters to all of the departments and offices that received letters from the atheist group, Freedom From Religion Foundation: Bay County Sheriff’s Office, Fla.; Bonifay Police Department, Fla.; Marion County Sheriff’s Office, Fla.; Walton County Sheriff’s Office, Fla.; Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Ill.; Greenup County Sheriff’s Office, Ky.; Amory Police Department, Miss.; Brookfield Police Department, Mo.; Laclede County Sheriff’s Department, Mo.; Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office, Mo.; Linn County Sheriff’s Department, Mo.; Ralls County Sheriff’s Office, Mo.; Randolph County Sheriff’s Office, Mo.; Stone County Sheriff’s Department, Mo.; Halifax County Sheriff’s Office, N.C.; Elizabethton Police Department, Tenn.; and Culpeper County Sheriff’s Office, Va.
 
“It’s shameful for groups like Freedom From Religion Foundation to target police departments and the men and women who honorably serve our citizens with these completely illegitimate demands,” added Sharp. “We hope these departments will disregard these demands as the distortions of the First Amendment that they obviously are.”
 
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith.

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ABOUT Matt Sharp

Matt Sharp serves as senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, where he is the director of the Center for Public Policy. In this role, he leads ADF's team of policy experts as they craft legislation and advise government officials on policies that promote free speech, religious freedom, parental rights, and the sanctity of human life. Since joining ADF in 2010, Sharp has authored federal and state legislation, regularly provides testimony and legal analysis on how proposed legislation will impact constitutional freedoms, and advises governors, legislators, and state and national policy organizations on the importance of laws and policies that protect First Amendment rights. He has twice testified before the U.S. Congress on the importance of protecting free speech and religious liberty in federal law. Sharp also authored an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of nearly 9,000 students, parents, and community members asking the court to uphold students’ right to privacy against government intrusion. Sharp earned his J.D. in 2006 from the Vanderbilt University School of Law. A member of the bar in Georgia and Tennessee, he is also admitted to practice in several federal courts.


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