HARRISBURG – Harrisburg-based Independence Law Center and First Liberty Institute have sent a letter on behalf of a veteran Coatesville VA Medical Center chaplain, asking U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins to take immediate action to eliminate a speech code being imposed by the VA to ensure that Chaplain Rusty Trubey and his colleagues may preach according to the dictates of their conscience. You can read the letter by clicking on the picture below. Independence Law Center’s Chief Council Randall Wenger remarked, “Censoring the content of a chaplain’s sermon is an unconstitutional violation of their God-given rights to religious freedom and free speech.” In June 2024, as part of his normal duties, Trubey, a chaplain there for nearly ten years, conducted a worship service in the chapel and preached a sermon from the first chapter of Romans. After the service ended, an onsite VA police officer approached him, alleging complaints made about his sermon from that day. Trubey informed his supervisor that the police had been called after his sermon. After that, Trubey was removed from his duties as chaplain, investigated for several months, and threatened with a mark on his permanent record. While the Coatesville facility rescinded that proposed reprimand, his supervisor implemented an unconstitutional sermon review process and is attempting to limit the topics on which chaplains can preach and would punish them for preaching according to their faith tradition and religious convictions.
