Thou shalt not create a state religion, including inside a jail

Photo of a giant mural of the 10 commandments in the gymnasium of the Itasca County jail and government complex. Local resident Dana Butler is pictured for scale. Photo by Pam Dowell for Minnesota Reformer.

Even as increasing numbers of American s say they are unaffiliated with any organized religion, governments in northern Minnesota seem intent on using taxpayer dollars for religious indoctrination.

The very costly and controversial Itasca Jail and government center construction project arose after the jail “failed 15 requirements that were identified by the Minnesota Department of Corrections and given a sunset date of September 1, 2021,” or lose its licensing, which would mean the jail would no longer be insurable, according to Grand Rapids Herald-Review .

So the county embarked on a sixty million dollar project after years of planning, and it’s set to open in May.

I went on a recent tour. You can watch a clip of the WDIO-TV tour here . As the tour flier touts, “This 3-story building consists of a new state of the art, 184-bed jail, four Courtrooms, with judicial chambers, county attorney’s offices, court administration, state and county Probation, and county training Facilities.” Over 80-plus tours have happened at the new jail and justice center.

The flier reported the project cost as $75 million for jail, courts, and offices.

Art installations in the jail include a three-panel nature landscape. So far, so good.

Imagine my disappointment when I next saw a litany of occasionally mis-attributed quotes — including several with references to the Bible and God painted across wall headers.

• “Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face” and “If we ever forget we’re one nation under God, then we will be one nation gone under.” Both are attributed to noted theologian (gulp) President Ronald Reagan. (Also worth noting: His son Ron Reagan Jr. has filmed an ad for the Freedom From Religion Foundation.)
• “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are” — President Theodore Roosevelt. Oops: That’s an incorrect attribution and the quote was actually said by Squire Bill Widener.
• “Ninety-nine percent of failures come from people who make excuses.” — President George Washington. Yeah, no. Another incorrect attribution , this one was actually a maxim of George Washington Carver.

Itasca County has a respectful workplace policy that addresses discrimination with regard to race, sex, age and religion, but here we are spending money on religious messages.

And then, inside the new basketball-size inmate gymnasium, I was met with a billboard-sized 10 Commandments painted on the wall.

This sure seems like a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution , which bars government from establishing an official state religion.

Upon election, Sheriff Joe Dasovich promised new leadership . I like Joe. We have a courteous and friendly professional relationship. Some say he espouses the role of “constitutional sheriff” — which is an extremist, anti-government group that believes sheriffs and police officers have the power to decide which laws to enforce. I hope not. He is a combat veteran. I often remind him that he is a licensed Minnesota peace officer, and therefore must abide by Minnesota’s policing rules and regulations. Not to mention the state and federal constitutions.

I asked Joe who was responsible for the paintings throughout the new jail, including the 10 Commandments. He responded, “That decision was made before me by Lucas [Thompson, jail administrator].”

Joe told me he thought Thompson wanted to take a fight to the U.S. Supreme Court.

I asked him if he is Thompson’s supervisor.

“Yes,” he replied,” adding that he’d only just seen it a couple weeks ago, when it was freshly painted.

I asked about a potential violation of the Establishment Clause and shared concerns about divisiveness in an already tumultuous political climate, and whose God and which specific religion does a government agent get to support.

Joe told me that Thompson polled several of the jail inmates, who said they liked biblical scripture. The jail will be contracting with Cass County , on an inmate contract to offset the high cost of the new build.

I reported this to the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Joe responded over the weekend and said that the Itasca County Sheriff’s Office would be repainting the walls, keeping them blank for a year, and readdressing the issue. The sheriff issued a press release late Monday afternoon. The release never mentioned a repaint.

“T he purpose of the display among other historical quotes was to encourage and support our inmate programs . . . the display and related quotes are not intended to offend or create division,” he said.

Freedom From Religion Foundation tells me they’ve received multiple reports from Itasca citizens and were already planning to act on the concerns .

Our already tax-burdened shoulders don’t need a costly lawsuit when some buckets of paint and some secular common sense wisdom would be much be cheaper.

This isn’t the first time politicians in a northern Minnesota community have sought to use taxpayer dollars for religious indoctrination lately. In 2023, Kanabec County had planned to put a display of the 10 Commandments in the county courthouse lobby. Once contacted by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, however, the county rescinded its plan.

You may think we live in a democracy that values freedom of and freedom from religion, but we must always be vigilant.

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