An alternative sentencing plan that would give inmates the choice between time in jail or a year in church will be delayed while lawyers review it to make sure there are no legal issues.
Operation Restore Our Community (Operation ROC) was launched on Sept. 20 in Bay Minette. On Sept. 26, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Alabama sent a letter to city leaders demanding an immediate end to the program, which it says “flagrantly” violates the separation of church and state.
The letter also requested public records on the program’s development and creation.
“It’s good to hear they are delaying implementation,” said Alabama ACLU executive director Olivia Turner.
The faith-based Operation ROC program, the brainchild of area church leaders, offers first-time, nonviolent offenders the option of attending the house of worship of their choice each week for a year instead of receiving jail time or other punishments.
“Operation ROC resulted from meetings with church leaders,” Bay Minette Police Chief Mike Rowland said. “It was agreed by all the pastors that at the core of the crime problem was the erosion of family values and morals. We have children raising children and parents not instilling values in young people.”
Rowland does not think that pressure from groups like the ACLU will stop the program.
“We are just simply running it back through for final legal review and a final stamp of approval by the city attorney,” said Rowland. “If he gives us that, then we’re going to move forward with it on the next court day, which will be Oct. 11. And I believe that’s going to happen.”
Under the program, offenders would choose a church and attend it for one year, reporting their attendance to the pastor. Pastors would report weekly to the police chief, and offenders would bring a signed sheet to prove they attended church.
Offenders would also have to answer some questions about the services, Rowland said. Those who voluntarily choose church over jail get to pick the churches they attend. If they complete a year’s attendance, Rowland said, their criminal case would be dismissed.
Rowland said because no one will be forced to take part in the program, he believes there is no violation of church-state separation, and is confident it can be begin next month.
Rowland said input from the ACLU, the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation and other agencies has been helpful.
“We appreciate them coming forward with it because it gives us the opportunity to see their side of it and to address the issues that they have concern with,” he said. “I believe we’ve already addressed the issues.”
The alternative program will not be offered to all defendants and will be offered at a judge’s discretion. Offenders who try the program and find it’s not working for them can go back before the judge for a different sentence.
Rowland credited area churches for envisioning the program.
“This is their idea,” he said. “I just put it together and pitched it.”
So far, 56 churches have agreed to help monitor offenders, and 40 congregations have submitted inventories of their community resources, such as parenting, counseling and educational programs.
Rowland said the Bay Minette ROC project is the only one of its kind in the country, but online searches show others have been tried.
A similar program in London, Ky., drew headlines in 2004, and before that a judge in Lake Charles, La., was eventually suspended for ethics violations stemming from sentencing defendants to church, according to a Louisiana Supreme Court ruling in 1994.
Rowland said the public has expressed “overwhelming” support for the program.
“It kind of starts to show there’s a change in the nation as far as their philosophy about what we need to do about people who commit crimes,” he said. (RNS)
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