8th Circuit Rejects Trooper's Challenge to Required Ride-Along With Chaplain

In Steckelberg v. Rice, (8th Cir., Dec. 26, 2017), the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's dismissal of a suit by a Nebraska State Trooper alleging various complaints about his treatment in connection with his application for a promotion and for a transfer and in handling grievances he filed. One of plaintiff's complaints, focused on during oral argument in the 8th Circuit, was that as part of his required performance improvement plan, he was required to ride along with the State Patrol chaplain, a Catholic priest, for a shift.  The 8th Circuit apparently agreed with the district court's rejection of the argument that this amounted to government coerced proselytization. The Lincoln Journal Star, reporting on the decision, says that a petition for en banc review is likely to be filed.