In the town of Bay Minette, Alabama, a small city of 8,000 residents just north of Mobile, the Police Department has developed a new crime-reduction program that offers alternatives to jail. The program, which came out of a public community-wide meeting held at the Abundant Life Church, is called Operation Restore Our Community or R.O.C. It allows non-violent, first-time offenders to choose jail or a year of attending Church services.
As expected, there was immediate outcry from various organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Freedom of Religion Foundation. 
These groups and others have been in direct contact with the Bay Minette Police demanding that the program be eliminated, claiming it’s unconstitutional and directly violates the First Amendment. Due to their intervention, the program, originally slated to begin September 26, was delayed in starting until October 11th. The Police Department is having the program reviewed by local Courts for legality issues.
Chief of Police, Mike Rowland is confident that the program is legal and remarks, that such a program is “very common in the nation. All courts exercise alternative sentencing. This is just another alternative sentencing option.” (Fox 10 tv) However, this particular Program is based on the presumption that church attendance will reform criminal behavior thus reducing crime in the city – a presumption that is non-scientific and leads directly to a plethora of other contestable arguments on morality and family values. Such discussion would take this article off-subject into the area of religious debate and away from the legality of the ROC program.
It is important to note that Bay Minette’s religious make-up is common to many small towns in the South. The city has a strong Protestant following with 42% Baptists, 15% Methodists and the remaining 43% of reporting religions are a variety of other Christian Faiths (only a small fraction being Catholic.) In such a town, the government works with and within its community; much of which is Faith-Based. They don’t see a problem with the above presumption; nor do they necessarily see the Constitutional conflict. This is evidenced by the Police having a full-time, paid Chaplain on staff as well as sponsoring a volunteer Chaplain Corps made up of members of various local Churches.
In a town like this, we run into the proverbial “tree in the woods” problem. If everyone is Christian in the town, is the Program illegal? Or more to the point, if all the criminals are Christian, is the program really a problem? Nobody is offended. Does it only become a problem when a Jew or Muslim or Pagan or Atheist, commits a crime?
Of course, those questions are as silly as the “tree” question. Of course, the tree makes a sound and of course the Program is unconstitutional by both Alabama and US law. Both constitutions clearly state the government cannot favor one religion over the other. And, in the case of the ROC Program, the language appears to favor Christianity.
It is also important to note that, similar to national statistics, only 47% of Bay Minette’s population reported their faith. Of this remaining 53%, how many are not Christian at all? That’s more than half of the population. It is absolutely conceivable that of that 53%, there are non-Christians – some of whom may commit a crime.
“The issue [for the ACLU] is a forced religion. There’s no forcing of anyone in this. It’s totally voluntary,” notes Rowland to Fox 10 tv. True, the city is not forcing people to attend church or worship beyond their personal beliefs. However, what it is doing is offering a form of “salvation” through a religious environment to non-violent criminals. For those that do not have an agreeable Church, per se, or are not Christian or are simply not religious, there is no access to life assistance. For these people, there is only jail. Is that okay? After all, they are criminals? Or, does this reflect, in a not-so-subtle way, the Christian notion that salvation can only come through Jesus?
In response to the ACLU claims, Rowland does remark that the convicted criminal “does get to choose the church. If they don’t have a particular church in mind, they can [choose] any church anywhere,” Rowland said. By church does he mean religious institution or does he mean Christian Church? Does that incarcerated Jew get to choose a Temple in Atlanta? Does a Wiccan get to choose a Grove in California? Rowland has also stated that the program is open to all denominations. Can we assume this to mean “Religious Faiths?” Or, is this program limited to Christian denominations?
If the city of Bay Minette truly wants to promote alternatives to jail in an effort to reform criminals, save money and reduce prison over-crowding, it needs to reword the ROC program directives. In other words, to become constitutional, the program needs to be inclusive of all legally recognized religions and provide access to all legitimate religious organizations. Doing so would place the program within the framework of the Alabama and US Constitution.
Where does that leave the atheist? He is out in the cold without a path to the proverbial “salvation.” Is this not poetic irony, leading us back to the false assumption on which the Program rests: Religion is the path to rehabilitation and a better life. While religion does bring peace and solace to many, it has also been the single most destructive force in human history – leading to crimes against humanity from before historical time to modern day. And it has not stopped.
The program has a noble aim but is faulty in its execution. While it could be legalized with a simple rewording that includes all faiths, that is simply not enough. And, let’s be honest, it complicates the basic goal – to allow a criminal a second chance to live within society’s secular rules. Would it be too much to do this with an equally secular, community-based program that has proven effective both in theory and practice? Let religious professionals be available to those criminals who seek out spiritual salvation on their own time. And let those trained in the social sciences and other appropriate professions develop a progressive program toward criminal reform that allows for an opportunity to “try again” – that allows for a secular “salvation.”
(Very Rough Stats were taken from Jones, Dale E., et al. 2002. Congregations and Membership in the United States 2000. Nashville, TN: Glenmary Research Center. )
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