News & Blog

New Plaintiff Joins Lawsuit Against TN Sheriff

Bradley County, TNAmerican Atheists today filed an amended complaint in the lawsuit challenging the unconstitutional actions of Bradley County Sheriff Eric Watson, adding resident Joseph Stephens as a plaintiff in the case.

American Atheists and an anonymous Bradley County resident, referred to in court documents as “Jane Doe” because she fears reprisal, originally filed the lawsuit on May 6, 2016 after the Sheriff Watson and the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office used official department social media pages to promote the Sheriff’s religion and then censored residents who criticized the Sheriff’s actions.

Joseph and the anonymous plaintiff were both censored and blocked from commenting on the BCSO Facebook page after voicing their displeasure with the Sheriff’s action.

You can read the motion to amend the complaint here.

A trial date is set for August 24, 2016.