GRAND RAPIDS — The new $75 million Itasca County Jail has been controversial since its proposal in 2019. Now, public tours of the new facility — days before inmates are expected to move in — have sparked a new controversy.
During last week’s tours, the public saw an imposing display of the Ten Commandments posted in the facility’s gym, covering most of one of the walls. Concerns expressed on social media have swiftly evolved into legal pressure over whether the display violates the First Amendment Establishment Clause.
Itasca County Sheriff Joe Dasovich declined to officially state whether the county would remove the Commandments, but he implied the county was leaning toward painting them over.
“Legal representation says that they should be painted over. We’re leaving the county open to litigation,” he said. “... My job is to manage risk, daily, and I need to weigh the risks and make a decision.”
In a news release, Dasovich said the displays were meant to “encourage and support” inmate programs, which include spiritual services and mental health counseling.
“The display and related quotes are not intended to offend or create division,” the statement read. “We will continue to provide diverse programming to our inmates as citizens of Itasca County.”
He said the Ten Commandments mural and other quotes throughout the jail from former presidents, founding fathers and military leaders were selected by Lucas Thompson, Itasca County jail administrator, who Dasovich said acts as the jail’s construction manager. A number of the other quotes included religious references.
“This build was approved and decided long before I was sheriff,” Dasovich said Monday. “Not that I’m against anything that’s up, it’s just that I had no part in that they were up or not.”
On Tuesday, Dasovich said it would be an all-or-nothing decision for quote removal. If they are all removed, he said people involved with jail programming, such as programming staff, volunteers and mental health practitioners, will help decide what replaces the quotes.
Corrections Deputy Garrett Smith was a guide during last week’s jail tours. Participants asked how long it would be before the county received a complaint about the Ten Commandments during a tour Thursday, April 25. Smith’s response indicated leaders were aware the display would be controversial before its installation.
“I imagine it won’t be long, but my boss was like, ‘Well, I’ll put them up until I can’t,’” Smith told the tour attendee. “... And he was like, ‘Well, I’m going to be done in three years, I’m going to put them on there, and we’ll ride it out.’”
Neighboring St. Louis County removed a decades-old Ten Commandments plaque from the Hibbing Courthouse in 2018 after a complaint from the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Wisconsin-based freethought association that advocates for the separation of church and state.
St. Louis County Administrator Kevin Gray told the Hibbing Daily Tribune at the time that “laws and norms have developed considerably” since the plaque’s installation.
After tips from Grand Rapids community members, including members of the Grand Rapids Area Freethinkers, the foundation sent a letter to Thompson recommending the jail remove the Ten Commandments and any quotes promoting religion.
“Constituents — including prisoners — have the right to be free from the government proselytization,” the letter said. “Prisoners do not shed their rights by virtue of being in prison.”
Chris Line, a staff attorney for Freedom From Religion Foundation, said displaying the Ten Commandments shows clear favoritism toward a religion.
“It’s trying to impose potentially those views on to people that may not subscribe to them,” he said in a Monday phone interview. “... Everyone participating or having to deal with our government should feel like an equal citizen. Their government should take no position with regard to religion. It should neither favor nor go after religion. It should be completely neutral.”
There’s been an increased effort to get religion into government and schools in the past few years, Line said. He thinks those advocates believe there’s an opportunity to tear down the separation of church and state with the current U.S. Supreme Court.
“What we’re seeing is people knowing that something is illegal or has been and it has been ruled by the Supreme Court and thinking, ‘Well, worst case scenario, maybe we’ll have to take it down. But best-case scenario, maybe we’ll go up to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court will say, ‘Hey, we’re going to change the law and get rid of decades of precedent,’” Line said.
Dasovich said the county does not intend to enter litigation regarding the displays, but he did state he thinks they would win if the case were before the Supreme Court.
If the county were to be sued for the display, there wouldn’t be notable liability or damages. But that doesn’t mean there’d be no consequences.
“The way it’s structured, in order to incentivize and allow us to defend our rights, is if we were to have to sue over the Ten Commandments and win in court, then the government [in this instance, Itasca County] will have to pay our legal fees,” Line said.
These types of cases can drag out of years, Line said, and the fees can end up costing municipalities hundreds of thousands of dollars.
While he doesn’t recall a specific ruling regarding religious messages in jails, Line said the legal analysis would be similar to a courthouse display.
“It’s actually more coercive because a lot of people have to go to the courthouse to deal with state business or something, but if you’re in jail or prison, you have to be there,” he said. “It’s the ultimate captive audience.”
Dasovich said a data request about the cost of the displays was filed, but he’s not sure how quickly it will be filled because of the scope of the project.
“My No. 1 priority is getting inmates in there,” he said.
Requests for comment from Thompson were not returned as of Tuesday afternoon.
