Trooper’s work, religion clash over riverboat casino duty

Amy Forliti

Thursday, Aug. 24, 2000 | 8:43 a.m.

INDIANAPOLIS - As an Indiana State Trooper, Ben Endres swore to uphold the law. As a leader in his church, he pledged to set a moral example.

Those two values clashed this year when Endres was assigned to monitor the blackjack tables and slot machines on a riverboat casino that cruises a Lake Michigan tributary. When he refused the duty, citing church doctrine that considers gambling a vice, he was fired in April.

Endres, a Baptist, has appealed his firing to the Indiana State Police Board. He has garnered support across Indiana, and his plight has become a campaign issue in the governor's race.

But legal experts say the likelihood of his winning any kind of appeal are slim. The board has two months to reach a decision.

"Those are rare cases in which the religious believer has had the right to trump the general law," said Marci Hamilton, an expert in constitutional law at New York University School of Law.

Yet Endres' case could have broader implications, said Scott Reinacher, chairman of the nonprofit National Troopers' Coalition, which represents state police organizations in 48 states.

"Nationally, it could have an impact," Reinacher said. "This is an individual rights issue. He has opted to pay for the exercise of rights with the loss of his job."

A state trooper since 1991, Endres, 38, argues he was hired to defend public safety, not to regulate gambling. While he is willing to investigate a crime in a casino, he cites a distinction between enforcing the law and becoming a part of an "immoral" activity.

Endres is not alone in putting religious obligations ahead of his career. Officers across the nation have battled over hair length, beards, wearing firearms and working religious holidays.

Under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, employers are required to make reasonable accommodations for religious practices in the workplace. But police departments don't have to give their officers special treatment.

"The right of a person to practice a religion has to be balanced against the needs of an agency," said Wayne Schmidt, attorney and editor of The Fire and Police Personnel Reporter, a national legal newsletter.

Some religious denominations, such as Orthodox Jewish or Seventh-day Adventist, require members to observe the Sabbath. Law enforcement agencies, which require officers to work round-the-clock, oftewas ordered to serve on the casino boat. Once the order was issued, however, police said it was too late.

Exceptions to orders would lead to chaos, and officers cannot choose which assignments to cover, said State Police Superintendent Mel Carraway.

"We cannot, just because we don't like the situation, say we are not going to report," Carraway said.

In Indiana, riverboats cannot leave the dock without a "gaming officer" on board to monitor gambling.

Republican gubernatorial candidate David McIntosh has said that if elected, he would restore Endres to his job. But Gov. Frank O'Bannon, who has a comfortable lead in the polls, has said politics should be kept out of a personnel issue.

Political analyst Brian Vargus said McIntosh's offer to help is a sign that his campaign is in dire straights.

"For McIntosh, most of the people who were interested in that issue were going to vote for him anyway - the evangelical, right-wing voters," said Vargus, a political pollster at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis. "He's literally preaching to the choir."

Endres, now working as an investigator in the St. Joseph County prosecutor's office, wants to reclaim the job he loved.

"I had to choose to obey the Lord," Endres said. "I feel like a little guy who tried to do what was right and Goliath kind of stepped on it."