For Immediate Release
Contact: David Reinbold, dreinbold@americanhumanist.org
(January 13, 2025, Charleston, WV) – The American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia (ACLU-WV) has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the American Humanist Association asking a court to stop the West Virginia Water Development Authority from sending $5 million to an out-of-state Catholic organization.
In October, the water authority approved the $5 million grant to the Steubenville, Ohio-based College of Saint Joseph the Worker for the creation of a construction and real estate company headquartered in Weirton, as well as a new branch campus in the Kanawha Valley.
On its website, the school describes itself as “radically Catholic from top to bottom.” It describes its work, including its vocational work, as deeply and fundamentally Catholic, inseparable from the religious aspects of the college. In its “about” section, it says, “Our goal is to produce faithful Christians who are virtuous citizens, intellectually formed, and capable of building up the Church in their communities.”
According to news reports, Delegate Pat McGeehan (R-Hancock) and officials in Gov. Jim Justice’s office advocated for the school to receive the grant. Records show that McGeehan actually submitted the school’s grant proposal to the water authority on behalf of the dean, Andrew Jones.
“Tens of thousands of West Virginians wonder every day where they will get clean drinking water,” ACLU-WV Legal Director Aubrey Sparks said. “The College of Saint Joseph the Worker has every right to exist and to educate its students in line with its religious worldview, but to force the taxpayers of West Virginia to fund its mission is wholly inappropriate and unconstitutional.”
The West Virginia Constitution states: “No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place or ministry whatsoever; nor shall any man be enforced, restrained, molested or burthened, in his body or goods, or otherwise suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief, but all men shall be free to profess and by argument, to maintain their opinions in matters of religion; and the same shall, in nowise, affect, diminish or enlarge their civil capacities; and the Legislature shall not prescribe any religious test whatever, or confer any peculiar privileges or advantages on any sect or denomination, or pass any law requiring or authorizing any religious society, or the people of any district within this state, to levy on themselves, or others, any tax for the erection or repair of any house for public worship, or for the support of any church or ministry, but it shall be left free for every person to select his religious instructor, and to make for his support, such private contracts as he shall please.”
The lawsuit is being brought on behalf of the American Humanist Association (AHA), a non-profit organization that advocates and supports the practice of humanism, a progressive philosophy of life that, without theism or other supernatural beliefs, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good.
“We’re proud to take a stand on behalf of our members in West Virginia, because no one should have to pay taxes to fund someone else’s religion,” AHA Executive Director Fish Stark said. “Humanists believe deeply in the freedom of conscience, and this attempt to force West Virginia taxpayers to fund religious activity is an offense against the Constitution and common sense. As a former West Virginia resident, I believe ‘Mountaineers Are Always Free’ means your faith is your business – no one else, and certainly not the government, has the right to push it on you.”
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The American Humanist Association (AHA) works to protect the rights of humanists, atheists, and other nontheistic Americans. The AHA advances the ethical and life-affirming worldview of humanism, which—without beliefs in gods or other supernatural forces—encourages individuals to live informed and meaningful lives that aspire to the greater good of humanity.