Tom Riner (born October 7, 1946) is an American politician and

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

who served as a Democratic member of the

Kentucky House of Representatives The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form a ...

for the 41st District from 1982 until 2017. He was defeated by

Attica Scott Attica Woodson Scott (born January 30, 1972) is an American politician who served as a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from the 41st district from 2017 to 2023. Early life and education Scott was born in Louisville, Kentucky, a ...

in the 2016 Democratic primary for the seat. ''The New York Times'' once wrote regarding Tom's stance of political discourse, "He looks for God everywhere, and in places he does not find him, he tries to put him there."

Kentucky House of Representatives

Riner connected Rowan County

Clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts record keeping as well as general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include Records managem ...

Kim Davis Kimberly Jean Davis (née Bailey; born September 17, 1965) is an American former county clerk for Rowan County, Kentucky, who gained international attention in August 2015 when she defied a U.S. federal court order to issue marriage licenses ...

, then under prosecution for defying a federal court order to issue

marriage licenses A marriage license (or marriage licence in Commonwealth spelling) is a document issued, either by a religious organization or state authority, authorizing a couple to marry. The procedure for obtaining a license varies between jurisdictions ...

same-sex couples A same-sex relationship is a romantic or sexual relationship between people of the same sex. ''Same-sex marriage'' refers to the institutionalized recognition of such relationships in the form of a marriage; civil unions may exist in countries ...

, with

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

legal team

Liberty Counsel Liberty Counsel is a 501(c)(3) Christian ministry that engages in strategic litigation to promote evangelical Christian values. Liberty Counsel was founded in 1989 by its chairman Mathew Staver and its president Anita L. Staver, who are attorney ...

. An anti-

revenge porn Revenge porn is the distribution of sexually explicit images or videos of individuals without their consent, with the punitive intention to create public humiliation or character assassination out of revenge against the victim. The material ma ...

bill sponsored by Riner and fellow Democrat Joni Jenkins passed the Kentucky House unanimously.

Disputed statute

In 2006, Riner sponsored a Kentucky law which could subject a staff member of Kentucky Homeland Security to a Class A Misdemeanor (carrying a 12-month prison sentence) if they fail to affirm the existence of an almighty God. The Kentucky Supreme Court has refused to review the constitutionality of the law, though a dissenting opinion was recorded by Judge Ann O'Malley, stating that while the organization "American Atheists lacked standing based on its claim for damages," statute KRS 39A.285 nonetheless "places an affirmative duty to rely on Almighty God for the protection of the Commonwealth," which would put it in contention with the

Lemon Test ''Lemon v. Kurtzman'', 403 U.S. 602 (1971), was a case argued before the Supreme Court of the United States.. The court ruled in an 8–0 decision that Pennsylvania's Nonpublic Elementary and Secondary Education Act (represented through David Kurt ...

. The bill became law in 2008. American Atheists have asked the US Supreme court to review the constitutionality of the law.

Personal life

Tom Riner and his wife, former State Representative

Claudia Riner Claudia Riner (, born April 23, 1948) is an American politician who served in the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1978 to 1981, representing Kentucky's 36th House of Representatives district, the 36th district. She was the first woman fr ...

, live in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Riner, Tom 1946 births Living people Democratic Party members of the Kentucky House of Representatives Politicians from Louisville, Kentucky Centre College alumni 21st-century members of the Kentucky General Assembly 20th-century members of the Kentucky General Assembly