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CO sued by watchdog group for public prayer meeting

A late summer prayer service at the Laurel County jail is now the subject of a lawsuit

By Nita Johnson
The Sentinel Echo, London, Ky.

LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. — A late summer prayer service at the Laurel County jail is now the subject of a lawsuit.

Filed on Monday, Jan. 29 in Laurel Circuit Court, the plaintiff in the lawsuit is the Freedom From Religion Foundation group who claims that Laurel County Jailer Jamie Mosley violated the Open Records Act.

The group became involved with the Community Prayer Service held under a tent in the jail’s parking lot on Aug. 29 after they allegedly received a complaint by a citizen concerning a religious event being held at a state-funded facility. The “separation of church and state” was the primary issue surrounding the prayer service.

But, according to the lawsuit, the FFRF made four specific requests for records from the Laurel County Correctional Center surrounding the event as well as “two specific requests for records related to substance abuse programming and religious programming.” That request was reportedly made on Oct. 6, with the jail having 30 days to respond to the request.

According to the lawsuit, the documents were not received in the specified time under Kentucky Revised Statutes, “commingled responsive and non-responsive documents,” requiring the FFRF to retrieve the requested documents, and refusing to provide some documentation pertaining to personal privacy exemption. The lawsuit also claims that there were contradictory claims made regarding some of the requested records.

The complaint was presented to the Kentucky Attorney General, Andy Beshear, who sided with FFRF that jail staff did not comply with the requests.

Mosley said he did comply with the requests from the FFRF, although he said the jail’s entire policies and procedures manual was sent so all policies could be reviewed.

“The Attorney General agreed with them that it was ‘overly burdensome’ for them to go through,” Mosley said. “This is utterly ridiculous.”

The lawsuit has claimed in a previous newsletter article and in the lawsuit that jail inmates were coerced into participating in the event.

An article in the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s website, which was released the same day as the lawsuit was filed, describes the “Night of Prayer” as: “Laurel County citizens and churches were invited to the jail to pray for inmates, their families, their victims and jail staff. The correctional center erected a tent on the premises for the event. Christian ministers, members of the community and jail staff attended the event, and a local church choir performed. Inmates were escorted to the tent to interact with the crowd. Additionally, attendees, including community members and religious leaders, were permitted in the jail to form a ‘prayer chain’.”

The lawsuit asks for “an expedited hearing on this matter,” a declaration that the Laurel County Correctional Center willfully withheld records in violation of the Open Records Act, an injunction ordering the release of jail records related to the FFRC’s requests, awarding FFRF attorney’s fees associated with filing of the lawsuit and $25 per document for each day the FFRF was “denied the right to inspect the requested records” and “all other relief to which FFRF might be entitled.”

Mosley said he was aware of the lawsuit but had not had time to review the entire document and could not make any official comment other than that he “fully stands behind what I did and I absolutely did nothing wrong.”

Mosley stated during and after the service that inmates were given a choice to participate in the event or not - from behind the locked doors of cell blocks within the building. Those who did not wish to participate or be in an area where citizens could see them were removed to other areas, Mosley stated.

©2018 The Sentinel Echo (London, Ky.)

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