Iowa Governor Steps Into A Tangled Web Of Church And State

Iowa Governor Terry Branstad signed a proclamation in April encouraging “all Iowans” to participate in a statewide Bible-reading marathon, but the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Iowa argues the declaration is unconstitutional.

The ACLU and two other groups, the Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation and the Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers, claim the governor’s proclamation promotes one religion over others and over nonreligion.

“The governor’s proclamation is frankly outrageous and embarrassing, and inconsistent with our core American and Iowan principles of inclusion and respect of all its people of all faiths, as well as those who are not religious,” Legal Director of the ACLU of Iowa Rita Bettis told ThinkProgress over email. “Our U.S. and Iowa state constitutions protect from precisely this sort of government overreaching and endorsement of a particular faith.”

Branstad’s proclamation is in support of a Bible-reading marathon organized by several Christian-based groups, slated to take place every day June 30th through July 3rd in front of all 99 Iowa courthouses, some of which will have prayers every 15 minutes.

Specifically, the objecting groups allege that the governor’s action promotes Christianity in violation of what is known as the “Lemon test” for constitutionality, which establishes three criteria for government action:

1. Does the government action have a secular purpose?
2. Does the government action have the primary effect of advancing or inhibiting religion?
3. Does the government action foster an excessive entanglement between government and religion?

If any of these are violated, then the action is considered to violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which prohibits the promotion of one religion over another. Some Supreme Court justices including the late Justice Scalia and Justice Thomas, however, have objected to the test as applied as a strict requirement for the separation of church and state. The ACLU of Iowa said that they are reviewing the matter for possible litigation.

“While we never announce an intention to file litigation, needless to say, we are carefully reviewing options,” said Bettis.

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