FREEDOM FROM RELIGION foundation

Box 750, MADISON, WI 53701 (608) 256-8900 ~ http://www.FFRF.ORG

August 11, 2022

SENT VIA EMAIL & U.S. MAIL: [email protected]

Sheriff Joseph A. Helm

Columbia County Sheriff’s Office

341 E. Main St, Ste. 1

Dayton, WA 99328

Re: Unconstitutional Official Religious Promotion

Dear Sheriff Helm:

I am writing on behalf of the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) regarding a constitutional violation occurring in the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office. FFRF is a national nonprofit organization with more than 38,000 members across the country, including more than 1,700 members and two chapters in Washington. Our purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

A concerned county resident reported that Undersheriff Robbie Patterson has used his official position to promote his evangelical Christian views. There are a startling number of instances where Undersheriff Patterson has published videos of himself, to both YouTube and Facebook, wearing an official sheriff ’s uniform while espousing claims that explicitly promote and favor Christianity. On June 25, 2022, Undersheriff Robbie Patterson, reportedly acting as on-duty sheriff for the day and wearing a Columbia County Sheriff’s Office uniform, spoke at a rally where he claimed that the United States was founded and built upon the ideas of Christianity and that we have freedoms only through the acts of God, not government:1

[T]he fact that we have the ability to have the freedoms we do is because it’s based off of God’s Word. . .The fact of the matter is our forefathers understand, they understood and they knew, that the only reason we have these rights is not because they were given to us by some Govemment or by some ruling people, they are given to us by almighty God.

In another instance, Undersheriff Patterson hosted and spoke at the Town of Dayton’s National Day of Prayer celebrations on May 5, 2022. During his sermon, again while wearing a Columbia County Sheriff’s Office uniform, the Undersheriff underscored that the singular answer to the supposed ills of our nation is faith in Jesus Christ and Christianity. Undersheriff Patterson stressed that Christianity is the only answer to Dayton’s problems: 2

“[Y]ou give them the opportunity to receive Jesus Christ, the only answer that there is. The only answer that this little town has, the answer that this nation has is a renewed faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. A renewed faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. That’s the only answer.”

We write to insist that Undersheriff Patterson immediately cease using his official position as undersheriff to proselytize and promote his personal religious beliefs.

The Supreme Court has long held that the Establishment Clause “mandates government neutrality between religion and religion, and between religion and nonreligion.” McCreary Cty, Ky. v. ACLU of Ky., 545 U.S. 844, 860 (2005); Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. 38, 53 (1985); Epperson v. Ark, 393 U.S. 97, 104 (1968); Everson v. Bd. of Educ. of Ewing, 330 U.S. 1, 15-16 (1947). When an undersheriff gives public sermons in his official capacity as an employee of the Sheriff’s Office, it sends a message to non-Christians “that they are outsiders, not full members of the political community, and an accompanying message to adherents that they are insiders, favored members.” Santa Fe Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Doe, 530 U.S. 290, 309-10 (2000) (quoting Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668, 688 (1984) (O’Connor, J., concurring)). This message needlessly alienates the the [sic] thirty-seven percent of Americans who are non-Christian, including the nearly one in three Americans who now identify as religiously unafiliated.3

As you are aware, citizens interact with and rely on law enforcement officers during some of the most urgent and vulnerable times of their lives. As undersheriff, Mr. Patterson serves a diverse population that consists of religious and nonreligious citizens. By giving official sermons espousing Christianity, Undersheriff Patterson creates the appearance that he—and your entire office—are biased toward citizens who share his religious beliefs and hostile toward those who do not.

Moreover, it is erroneous to assert that our nation was founded upon Christian theology. To the contrary, the United States was founded by Enlightenment-inspired thinkers who valued reason and skepticism. If the Framers had wanted to establish the United States based on Christian principles, they would have said so in the Constitution, the founding document of our nation. Instead they did the opposite. Our Founders made our country the first among nations to adopt a godless and entirely secular Constitution, one whose only references to religion are exclusionary (e. g., Article VI’s prohibition of any religious test as a qualification for public office).4

In reality, many of the Founders were particularly wary of forming a country that commingled religion with government. That is why they drafted a Constitution that effectively formed “a wall of separation between church and state.” This is perfectly exemplified in George Washington’s response to a letter from Presbyterian Ministers in Massachusetts and New Hampshire expressing their disappointment in the absence of “some Explicit acknowledgement of the only true God and Jesus Christ” in the Constitution. Washington replied “that the path of true piety is so plain as to require but little political direction. To this consideration we ought to ascribe the absence of any regulation, respecting religion, from the [Constitution] of our country.”5

In 1797, our country famously signed a treaty with Tripoli declaring that the “government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.” This treaty—drafted during George Washington’s presidency, approved unanimously by the Senate, and signed by John Adams—is a reminder that the Founders explicitly held the United States to be a government that separated state from church. It is pure misinformation to suggest that our nation is founded on biblical principles. As undersheriff, Mr. Patterson should strive to promote an accurate understanding of United States history that respects the foundational principles of the Constitution’s First Amendment, because, as a government official, he is obligated to uphold the Constitution and rule of law, not the bible.

While Undersheriff Patterson is free to express and promote his own religious beliefs in his personal capacity, it is unconstitutional to do so in his official capacity as undersheriff. By giving sermons in his official capacity, Undersheriff Patterson violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, disregards the wall of separation between state and church, and disrespects the diversity of Columbia County’s citizens. As Sheriff of Columbia County, we request that you correct this constitutional violation by prohibiting Mr. Patterson—and all Sheriff’s Office employees—from proselytizing while representing your office. Please inform us in writing of the steps you will take to prevent Undersheriff Patterson from abusing his position as undersheriff to spread his personal religious beliefs so that we may inform our complainant.

Sincerely,

/s/ Christopher Line

Christopher Line

Staff Attorney

Freedom From Religion Foundation CAL:cf

1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hbh0JPIPdCM

2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=za1hgxk4Vf4

3 Gregory a Smith, About Three-in-Ten U.S. Adults Are Now Religiously Unaffiliated, Pew Research Center (Dec. 14, 2021).

4 U.S. CONST. art. VI, § 3

5 Letter from George Washington to Presbyterian Ministers of Massachusetts and New Hampshire (Nov. 2, 1789).