A legal battle is unfolding in Guam’s courts after attorney Thomas Fisher filed suit against Attorney General Douglas Moylan, alleging taxpayer funds were improperly used for a billboard campaign featuring religious-style imagery.
The lawsuit centers on a series of billboards promoting Moylan’s upcoming “Criminal Redemption Project,” which display imagery resembling the Ten Commandments, the Ark of the Covenant and a figure akin to Moses, alongside the phrase “Repent, Reform and Respect.”
Fisher argues the campaign crosses constitutional boundaries by promoting religion using public funds, in violation of both the U.S. Constitution and the Organic Act of Guam.
“No public money or property shall ever be appropriated … for the use, benefit, or support of any … system of religion,” Fisher said, citing language from the Organic Act.
He contends the imagery lacks a secular context and instead advances “Judeo-Christian religious orthodoxy,” adding that the messaging “proselytizes religious dogma.” Fisher, a former senator in the 37th Guam Legislature and a military veteran, said he felt compelled to act based on his oath to uphold constitutional law.
“For these reasons I sue Moylan to stop his illegal actions and recover money for the People of Guam,” he said.
The lawsuit seeks to halt the billboard campaign and recover public funds used for the effort.
Moylan has strongly rejected the claims, maintaining that the campaign is lawful and does not constitute an endorsement of religion. He said the imagery is symbolic and intended to convey the theme of personal accountability.
“It has nothing to do with either establishing religion or prohibiting it,” Moylan said. “The imagery is for effect.”
He also pushed back on assertions that the billboards depict the Ten Commandments, saying the visuals are not a literal representation.
“Anyone who has actually gone to church knows that the imagery is not the actual Ten Commandments,” he said.
According to Moylan, the billboard campaign is part of a broader initiative to address criticism that his office has been overly punitive. The proposed Criminal Redemption Project would create a pathway for certain offenders to take responsibility for their actions, make restitution to victims and potentially avoid prosecution through structured rehabilitation.
“It creates a chance for what will be a category of criminals to take responsibility for their crimes, make amends to their crime victims and earn their way out of being prosecuted,” Moylan said, adding that the program would involve “hard work and restitution to their victims and my client, the People of Guam.”
Moylan also defended the use of taxpayer funds, arguing that public outreach related to policy initiatives falls squarely within the responsibilities of an elected official. He reiterated that the billboards are meant to inform the public about the forthcoming diversion program.
The attorney general further criticized Fisher’s position, noting what he described as irony in Fisher referencing religious language in his own statements.
The case now heads to the courts, where it could test the limits of how government messaging intersects with religious symbolism and public funding. No hearing date has been announced.