Time-line for Recent Events in
Polk County, Florida

On March 3, 2011, EllenBeth Wachs, Vice-President of Atheists of Florida, was served a warrant, arrested at her home and her home searched inside and out by over a dozen SWAT-attired law enforcement officials. The allegation is the unauthorized practice of law because Ms. Wachs, a retired attorney, signed letters using “Esq.” (the abbreviation for “esquire”). This arrest, however, comes as a part of a larger narrative: an epic confrontation between a civil rights minority – atheists -- and Polk County’s well connected and funded political forces who want to maintain a business-as-usual religious privilege within local government affairs. Inextricably related to the narrative are four stories, summarized here.

1) In July 2010, Atheists of Florida and Ms. Wachs, plaintiffs, filed a lawsuit in federal court against City of Lakeland and its mayor, Gow Fields, to stop the city’s practice of conducting meeting prayers. Ms. Wachs’ deposition in the case, scheduled for March 9, had to be postponed due to the personal havoc caused by her arrest on March 3. On March 18, the trial judge in this prayer lawsuit denied in part the defense’s motion to dismiss thus permitting the case to proceed.

2) On December 28, 2010, Ms. Wachs, a Polk County resident, sent an initial letter to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd concerning his holiday season PR event to transfer county property (jail basketball goals) to area churches. On January 4 and February 14, Ms. Wachs submitted Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests in which she discovered that the sheriff’s office credit card and resources had been used in this project.

3) On February 22, 2011, Ms. Wachs and John Kieffer (AoF president) were ejected from the Polk County School Board premises and Kieffer was arrested. The school board is chaired by Kay Fields, Mayor Gow Fields’ wife. The invocation at this meeting was to be given just prior to its start as a means to avoid a lawsuit similar to that faced by Lakeland mayor Gow Fields. During the prayer, Ms. Wachs and Mr. Kieffer milled about as any meeting participants generally do prior to a meeting taking photos and speaking to each other. After the invocation, enraged school board officials directed police officers to eject Ms. Wachs and Mr. Kieffer upon which Ms. Wachs stated to Chairperson Fields, “You got your lawsuit, Kay.”

4) On March 3, 2011, Ms. Wachs was arrested at her home. Among the items taken by investigators during the search of her home were all inflammatory documents against the sheriff received in response to her FOIA requests such as copies of the sheriff’s office credit card receipts. Noteworthy were the three people whose statements were used to justify the arrest affidavit: 1) Mayor Gow Fields: lawsuit defendant and husband of Kay Fields, the school board chairperson; 2) Ann Gibson: attorney for the sheriff’s office with whom Ms. Wachs received FOIA replies; and 3) Stacy Butterfield: board member of the homeowner’s association where Ms. Wachs resides with whom there had been previous confrontations; is employed at the County Clerk’s Office (where Gibson had been previously employed) and shares membership with Mayor Fields and Sheriff Judd on the board of directors of “Polk Vision,” a “partnership … to ensure implementation of Polk County's community vision,” which includes “spiritually,” according to its website.