Bible-reading employees unlawfully reprimanded

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A federal jury ruled Aug. 1 that officials of the Minnesota Department of Corrections acted unlawfully when they reprimanded two correctional employees for reading their Bibles during state-mandated training sessions on diversity and homosexuality.

The nine-person jury in the U.S. District Court in St. Paul took three days to determine that the state’s corrections department had discriminated against the employees based on their religious beliefs, and had also violated the free speech and equal protection guaranteed to them by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The jury awarded the employees more than $78,000, including $60,000 for punitive damages.

Francis Manion, senior counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) which represented the two employees, said the ruling “sends a very loud message to government officials that they cannot single out and punish employees for their religious beliefs. The jury clearly let the state of Minnesota know that punishing employees for expressing their religious views is not only wrong but violates their basic constitutional rights as well.”