Virginia ban on state troopers mentioningJesus Christ in public prayers

[eric treene]

Chip points to care and control by the government, a preeminent fact in
analyzing prison and military chaplains, surely, but not the only relevant
fact in my view.

Police officers and firefighters are more likely than the general population
to encounter exigent circumstances in which they would like/need spiritual
guidance, such as involvement in a mass tragedy (train crash, 9/11
response).  In such situations, they quite likely will not have access to
their clergy when they need it.  Moreover, their lack of access to their
clergy is a direct effect of their providing a unique public service and
sacrifice to the public.   There thus seems to be a reasonable argument that
having police and fire department chaplains does not establish religion in
the way that general funding of clergy would.  There is not the care and
control found with prisoners and the military, but there is a similar
situation of being cut off from their clergy, with the state having a role
in their being in that situation.

Hospital patients likewise can experience exigent circumstances, like a
worsening of condition, that can make their access to their regular clergy
impossible. And there is an element of care and control with patients as
well (though not as strong as with soldiers and prisoners). So providing
them with chaplains may be a special circumstance as well.

Eric Treene
(in my personal capacity)

-----Original Message-----
From: religionlaw-bounces at lists.ucla.edu
[mailto:religionlaw-bounces at lists.ucla.edu] On Behalf Of Ira (Chip) Lupu
Sent: Friday, September 26, 2008 12:45 PM
To: Law & Religion issues for Law Academics
Subject: Re: Virginia ban on state troopers mentioningJesus Christ in public
prayers

Chaplains speaking at public events are not ministering to the particular
religious needs of state troopers (in that private context, chaplains can
pray in ways that accommodate and facilitate the beliefs of those to whom
they are ministering).  At public events, open to all (and sometimes
mandatory) chaplains are the voices of the state, and should be limited to
ceremonial, non-sectarian prayer. 

Bob Tuttle and I discuss this question in our paper on the military
chaplaincy, 110 W. Va. L. Rev. 89, 148-159 (2007).

There is lurking here a prior question of whether the government should be
free to appoint chaplains in the first place for police officers,
firefighters, or public employees generally (as Indiana recently did, only
to back down in the face of a lawsuit).  Police officers and firefighters,
unlike prisoners and members of the armed forces, are not under the care and
control of the government.  Why is government ministering to police officers
and firefighters, who are free to seek their own private, spiritual counsel?


---- Original message ----
>Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2008 11:21:42 -0500
>From: "Christopher Lund" <Lund at mc.edu>  
>Subject: Re: Virginia ban on state troopers mentioning Jesus Christ in
public prayers  
>To: <religionlaw at lists.ucla.edu>
>
>   A necessary travesty?  More proof that religious
>   liberty and legislative prayer are like Harry Potter
>   and Voldemort - neither can live while the other
>   survives?
>   Best,
>   Chris
>    
>   ______________________
>   Christopher C. Lund
>   Assistant Professor of Law
>   Mississippi College School of Law
>   151 E. Griffith St.
>   Jackson, MS  39201
>   (601) 925-7141 (office)
>   (601) 925-7113 (fax)
>   Papers:
>   http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=363402
>   >>> stevenjamar at gmail.com 9/26/2008 10:08 AM >>>
>   Thoughts?
>
>
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/24/AR2008092403
471.html?hpid=sec-religion
>
>   --
>   Prof. Steven Jamar
>   Howard University School of Law
>   Associate Director, Institute of Intellectual
>   Property and Social Justice (IIPSJ) Inc.
>________________
>_______________________________________________
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Ira C. Lupu
F. Elwood & Eleanor Davis Professor of Law
George Washington University Law School
2000 H St., NW 
Washington, DC 20052
(202)994-7053
_______________________________________________
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