You have to hand it to the Atheists of Florida: They don’t disappear when the initial media spotlight goes away.
They’re still pushing to find out whether Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd did something illegal when he removed basketball hoops from a local prison and gave them to a local church:
Now the group wants more records, including documents detailing which employees were assigned to the project, how many hours they worked on it and which agency vehicles were used to move the basketball goals.
The sheriff ordered the basketball goals removed, saying “going to jail isn’t fun and games.”
The atheist group says it was unconstitutional to give the goals to churches.
In addition, last month, they were kicked out of a Cape Coral City Council meeting for wearing shirts reading “One Nation, Indivisible.”

And now, John Kieffer, a member of the group, has been arrested for causing a “disturbance during a pre-meeting prayer at today’s Polk County School Board meeting.”
Before the meeting began, the man began causing a disturbance, [Bartow Sgt. David] Wyant said. After a warning, the man continued to disrupt a pre-meeting prayer and was removed from the meeting.
The article doesn’t mention what exactly Kieffer did… or why there were prayers taking place at the school board meeting in the first place.
The school board will likely say the prayer is legal because it’s taking place before the official meeting — but, similarly, no one should be arrested for “disorderly conduct” for a “disruption” taking place before a meeting, either.
(Thanks to Jaime for the link!)
***Update***: Well, now we know what Keiffer yelled out:
Kieffer stood near School Board members while Wachs took photographs during the prayer before the meeting began. He also spoke as the minister was speaking.
After the invocation, he was rebuked by board member Frank O’Reilly for the disruption.
Wyant said that is when Kieffer yelled, “Prayer has no place in government! Prayer has no place in government!”
Murphy asked Bartow police Officers Jason Griffith and Julio Pagan to remove Kieffer from the auditorium.
Kieffer braced himself against the officers as they dragged him out of the room, Wyant said.
After board Chairman Kay Fields told Kieffer to leave, he said he wasn’t violating any laws because the meeting hadn’t officially started.
“It has now,” Fields said, and she slammed down her gavel.
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