that "deprived the residents of Polk County, Florida, of their right to access virtually any form of erotic speech or entertainment through a concerted effort to intimidate any purveyor of such entertainment through overzealous law enforcement efforts" including threats of racketeering charges.
Her attorney says in the lawsuit more about the religious atmosphere under Grady Judd as sheriff.
He notes other actions that show how Judd expresses his religious leanings as sheriff: Biblical scripture in a PCSO newsletter used to describe his 2007-2008 budget; gospel singers performing at sheriff's office events, some of which were held in Baptist churches; and a newsletter that highlights prisoner baptism statistics.
"While the above listed actions may seem innocent in isolation, they point to an obvious and deeply-ingrained tradition of Christianity within the agencies and officials overseen" by the sheriff, Walters writes. "The atheist, Jew, Muslim, or other non-Christian who reads Defendant Judd's newsletters receives a clear message — ‘you are not one of us.'"
Here is more about Ellenbeth Wach's lawsuit against Grady Judd. From the Lakeland Ledger:
Activist Atheist to Sheriff: Leave Me AloneLAKELAND | The Atheists of Florida's legal coordinator filed a federal lawsuit Friday against Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd that alleges her recent arrests are retaliation against her secular views.
EllenBeth Wachs, jailed twice this year, is seeking an injunction to stop Judd from arresting her or launching new investigations about her. She claims the charges she currently faces are a result of her "assertion of a non-religious, atheist viewpoint in the predominantly Christian-oriented Polk County," the lawsuit says.
The Ledger recently had a great defense of Wachs and a firm condemnation of how Grady Judd is doing business.
Second Arrest For Atheist: Bill of Rights Not for PolkThe paper says the charges should be dropped and then they use these words..
Otherwise, so much for the American way in Polk County.
More:
EllenBeth Wachs was arrested Sunday, accused of making noises in her home that sounded as though she was having sex. The arrest warrant says she made noise in her home on March 13 that "sounded like a woman experiencing sexual gratification in an extremely loud fashion."
So much for the Fourth Amendment in Polk County.
Wachs is the same person arrested by the Sheriff's Office on March 3 and charged with impersonating a lawyer by using the term esquire. She signed her name EllenBeth Wachs, Esq., indicating that she is a lawyer, said an investigator for the State Attorney's Office in the warrant for her first arrest.
So much for the First Amendment in Polk County. Indeed, look out for the Bill of Rights in Polk — two down, eight to go.
Even the judge who heard the case about the sex noises in her own home appeared to take part in the "pervasive religiosity".
Judge tells woman who made sex noises not to make unusual noises in her home.On Friday, the judge settled on a $6,000 bond for Wachs. He also warned her not to make unusual noises around the house. She's also banned from making contact with her neighbors or minors.
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