Constitutional Law

Ky. Homeland Security Office Says God Needed For Protection

Residents and a public-interest group have lodged a lawsuit against Kentucky officials over a law that requires the state Office of Homeland Security to acknowledge God as “being vital to the security of the Commonwealth.” The law passed in 2006 requires the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security to include in its reports and official communications an acknowledgment that God is necessary protect the state from terrorism as well as display a plaque with a similar claim at its headquarters. The lawsuit, filed in a state circuit court, says the law violates the separation of church and state provisions of the Kentucky and federal constitutions. Gov. Steve Beshear (D) said his administration would stand by the homeland security law. A spokesperson told the Louisville Courier-Journal that “the legislature has adopted this statute and it’s our obligation to follow it.”

Rep. Tom Riner (D-Louisville) sponsored the bill that established the security office’s nod to God. Riner, also a pastor of a Baptist church, said the religious sentitment was needed to battle those who are attempting “to separate America from its history as a nation that perceives itself as a nation under God.” Riner praised the governor’s stance, saying, “He understands as an attorney … that this is not a statement that is just for religious people, it’s a statement that we as Americans embrace.”

Edwin Kagin, a state attorney involved in the legal challenge to the law, noted that the First Amendment and the Kentucky Constitution includes principles of keeping government and religion separate. “This is one the most outrageous things I’ve seen in 35 years of practicing law. It’s breathtakingly unconstitutional,” Kagin told the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Full post as published by ACS Blog on December 04, 2008 (boomark / email).