Atheist activist drops suit against Sheriff Grady Judd

EllenBeth Wachs, the legal coordinator for the Atheists of Florida, has dismissed a federal lawsuit against Sheriff Grady Judd that accused him of targeting her because of her secular views.

Wachs, who has been charged criminally three times this year, said Monday the harassment she alleged ended after she filed the lawsuit in June.

“The whole community was aware that the charges were bogus,” Wachs said.
Judd said his agency was never served with a lawsuit, and his deputies never harassed Wachs. He added that he thinks the suit had no legal basis.

“As long as she behaves and adheres to the law, she won’t be arrested,” Judd said. “If she violates the law, she will be arrested. It’s just that clear.”

Wachs’ nonprofit group has tangled with the Lakeland City Commission and the Polk County School Board in the past because of prayers said at public meetings. Last winter, Wachs took aim at Judd for donating jailhouse basketball goals to churches, calling the move unconstitutional and sending him a cease and desist letter.

Investigators first accused her in March of illegally posing as a lawyer. She was later accused of having marijuana in her home and simulating sex sounds within earshot of a neighbor’s young son.

Prosecutors offered her a deal to drop the charges without conviction in August.

Her attorney, Lawrence Walters of Altamonte Springs, filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit Thursday without prejudice, giving them the option of re-filing the lawsuit later.

“We believe the sheriff has gotten the message that his campaign of harassment won’t be supported by the State Attorney’s Office,” Walters said.

A federal lawsuit Wachs filed against the Lakeland City Commission over prayers given at its public meetings is still pending.