
A Tennessee county whose sheriff praised Jesus on the Bradley County department’s Facebook page—and then deleted negative comments about the post—is settling a federal First Amendment lawsuit for $41,000.
Sheriff Eric Watson wrote a post titled “He is risen…” on Easter, prompting a lawsuit by an Atheist group and unnamed local residents in the eastern county of about 100,000. The deal calls for $15,000 in damages to be paid to the American Atheists organization and other plaintiffs in addition to $26,000 in legal fees.
“This settlement is a clear win for the plaintiffs, whose First Amendment rights to free speech and to be free of government establishment of religion were infringed upon,” Amanda Knief, the legal and policy director of American Atheists, said in a statement. “We are pleased the sheriff has agreed to do the right thing by no longer using this official government social media account to promote religion.”
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Source: Ars Technica – Sheriff praised Jesus on department Facebook page, county settles suit