Alabama pastor’s religious freedom lawsuit against the state moves forward

CLANTON, Ala. — On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Keith Watkins denied the state’s requests to dismiss the claims by Pastor Ricky Martin, who sued in 2014 to challenge a state law that ended his residential ministry for sex offenders.

Martin, through his ministry at Triumph Church in Chilton County, provided housing for sex offenders who had been released from prison. At the time of the suit, about 12 men lived in campers behind Martin’s property. Martin lives next to his church, which is on the edge of Clanton, and the offenders live behind it.

According to current Alabama law, however, Martin’s practice is illegal. In 2014, the state passed a law, pertaining only to Chilton County, that prohibited two or more registered sex offenders from living on the same property unless the homes were at least 300 feet apart. Because of the law, authorities forced Martin to evict the men from his own property.

Now, Martin has challenged the law itself on Constitutional grounds. He argues that Alabama has violated his First Amendment Right to freely exercise his religion. Represented by the ACLU of Alabama in U.S. District Court, Judge Watkins was persuaded to allow the suit to continue in spite of a motion to dismiss by the local prosecutor.

In his decision, Watkins said Watkins ruled that Martin had a legitimate claim that the law “creates a burden on his sincerely held religious beliefs.”

“All I am trying to do is follow the teachings of Jesus Christ and care for those who are in need of assistance,” Martin said in a statement released by his attorneys. “But now the government is prohibiting me from doing what the Lord is asking of me.”

Additionally, because the law passed by the legislature only applied to Chilton County, Martin argues that it qualifies as a Bill of Attainder – an action explicitly prohibited by the U.S. Constitution. Bills of Attainder are laws written with the targeting of a specific person or small group of people in mind. In this case, Martin feels that he has been singled out.

The original sponsor of the law that Martin challenges, Former state Rep. Kurt Wallace (R-Maplesville), said that he pushed for it because families who lived near the church were worried about the safety.