Cops for Christ? A Growing Nexus Between Law Enforcement And Fundamentalist Christianity Raises...

[EEO]

Americans United: Cops for Christ?: A Growing Nexus Between Law Enforcement And Fundamentalist Christianity Raises Church-State Concerns

“I’ve done all the really cool jobs in police work that there are,” Gallagher said in a recent interview with Al Jazeera America. “The most important job that I’ve done is this, because it has given me the opportunity to really, really help an underserved population. These are discarded women: people that have been completely forgotten, people that make people uncomfortable.”

The “this” Gallagher referred to is Project ROSE, a program he started in 2011 along with Arizona State University Prof. Dominique Roe-Sepowitz, whose expertise is in social work. The goal is simple and, many would say, admirable: reduce the number of women on the streets by helping them turn their lives around instead of just throwing them in jail. The problem is the method, which consists of a partnership between Phoe­nix police, Catholic Charities and a local Christian church.

The women arrested in Phoenix’s twice-yearly sex-work stings are forcibly taken to Bethany Bible Church and escorted inside in handcuffs. They are then given the option to avoid criminal prosecution by participating in a sectarian program. Critics, including Americans United, have said that Project ROSE is a clear violation of the First Amendment.

How is this not unconstitutional?

[Prophet 451]

1. It is unconstitutional but that doesn't matter

Put simply, no-one will do anything about it and if it makes it to the SCOTUS, they'll rule (in a 5-4 decision) that it's allowed.

[LoisB]

2. Sad but true.

[Aristus]

3. "Firebomb A Defenseless Child And Shoot A Harmless Dog For Christ!"

[Trillo]

4. Make sex work legal

and regulated.

[blkmusclmachine]

6. ,

,