Douglas Mesner, better known by the pseudonym Lucien Greaves, is the cofounder and primary spokesperson of The Satanic Temple, a nontheistic religious organization he launched in 2013 that has since filed dozens of First Amendment lawsuits against state governments, school districts, and city councils. He is best known for a long campaign to force equal treatment of minority religions on government property, for the After School Satan Club program, and for a string of recent controversies including a failed libel suit against Newsweek and public disputes with former members over leadership and governance.
Who He Is and the Names He Uses
His legal name is Douglas Misicko. He was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and began publishing as Doug Mesner in the mid-1990s before adopting Lucien Greaves as his public pseudonym when he became the face of The Satanic Temple.1Church of Satan. The Satanic Temple Fact Sheet Trademark filings for The Satanic Temple and its associated nonprofit, Reason Alliance Ltd., are registered under Misicko.
Mesner attended Harvard University and worked as a freelance journalist focused on cognitive science, conspiracy subcultures, and the debunking of recovered-memory therapy.2Skeptical Inquirer. Douglas Mesner A particular interest was the “satanic ritual abuse” moral panic of the 1980s and 1990s, which he characterized as a modern witch hunt built on unsubstantiated claims and therapeutically implanted false memories. In 2009 he attended and reported on a conference for self-described victims of ritual abuse and mind control.3Process.org. Report From the S.M.A.R.T. Ritual Abuse/Mind Control Conference He published “The Return of Repressed-Memory Satanic Ritual Stories” in Skeptical Inquirer in early 2013, the same year The Satanic Temple launched.4Skeptical Inquirer. The Return of Repressed-Memory Satanic Ritual Stories
Older associations have drawn criticism. Anti-Semitic comments he reportedly made on a 2002 podcast resurfaced years later; Greaves has apologized for them.5Newsweek. Orgies, Harassment, Fraud: Satanic Temple Rocked by Accusations, Lawsuit
What The Satanic Temple Is
The Satanic Temple was founded in 2013 by Greaves and Malcolm Jarry, the pseudonym of filmmaker Cevin Soling.6Business Insider. What Is the Satanic Temple The group grew out of political protest against the Bush administration’s White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, with the original aim of showing that a Satanic organization would be excluded from government funding programs that favored Christian groups. Its first major public action was a mock 2013 rally supporting Florida Governor Rick Scott’s push for in-school prayer.7Metro Times. Lucien Greaves of the Satanic Temple
The organization is nontheistic. Members do not worship or believe in a literal Satan. They follow seven tenets emphasizing compassion, empathy, justice, bodily autonomy, scientific understanding, and personal accountability. The stated mission is “to encourage benevolence and empathy among all people, reject tyrannical authority, advocate practical common sense and justice, and be directed by the human conscience to undertake noble pursuits guided by the individual will.”6Business Insider. What Is the Satanic Temple
On April 25, 2019, the IRS granted The Satanic Temple tax-exempt status as a church.8Rolling Stone. IRS Grants Tax-Exempt Status to Satanic Temple Greaves had initially resisted seeking that status but reversed course after a 2017 executive order by President Trump on religious freedom, reasoning that if religious privilege was being expanded, it should extend to everyone. The IRS found the Temple met its guidelines for a tax-exempt religious organization, including unique tenets, regular congregations, and religious services.9Los Angeles Times. In Theory: Does the Satanic Temple Deserve Tax-Exempt Status The organization claims more than 500,000 members with chapters across the United States and internationally.10Reason. The Satanic Temple Loses Libel Suit Against Newsweek
The Lawsuits He’s Known For
The Baphomet Statue and Ten Commandments Monuments
The signature campaign is a 7.5-foot bronze statue of Baphomet, a goat-headed winged figure, which Greaves has offered to place on state capitol grounds wherever Ten Commandments monuments are displayed. The theory is simple. If government property hosts one religious monument, it must be open to others.
Arkansas became the test case. The legislature passed the Ten Commandments Monument Display Act in 2015, and a privately donated monument was installed at the capitol in 2018. When the state rejected the Baphomet donation and passed a measure requiring legislative sponsorship for any new monument, the Temple brought the statue to the capitol on a forklift in protest.11Reason. Satanic Temple Wins Legal Fight Over 10 Commandments Monument in Arkansas The ensuing lawsuit, Cave et al. v. Jester, was filed jointly with the ACLU of Arkansas, the American Humanist Association, the Freedom from Religion Foundation, and the Arkansas Society of Freethinkers. On March 31, 2026, U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker granted summary judgment for the plaintiffs, finding that the monument violated the Establishment Clause and that the state had violated the Equal Protection Clause by preventing the Temple from competing on “equal footing.” The removal order is stayed pending appeal to the Eighth Circuit, and the Arkansas Attorney General’s office said it was reviewing the decision.12Arkansas Advocate. Federal Judge Blocks Law Requiring Ten Commandments Monument at Arkansas Capitol
Oklahoma played out differently. The state ignored the Baphomet request, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court eventually ordered its Ten Commandments monument removed on independent state constitutional grounds.13The Satanic Temple. The Satanic Temple Wins Historic Baphomet v. 10 Commandments Monument Case in Arkansas
Legislative Prayer
Challenges to being excluded from legislative prayer programs have mostly failed. In Scottsdale, Arizona, the city revoked an invitation for a Satanist to deliver an invocation after receiving more than 15,000 objections. In May 2021, the Ninth Circuit affirmed judgment for the city, finding the Temple did not prove the denial was motivated by religious discrimination rather than a policy requiring “substantial ties to the city.”14Religion Clause. Ninth Circuit: Denial of Invocation Spot to Satanic Temple Was Not Religious Discrimination
In Boston, a parallel suit against the city council ended with the First Circuit affirming summary judgment for the city in August 2024, holding that Boston’s prayer practice violated neither the Establishment Clause nor the Massachusetts Free Exercise Clause.15U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. The Satanic Temple v. City of Boston, No. 23-1642
After School Satan Clubs
The After School Satan Club program offers community service projects, games, and arts and crafts built around values like empathy and critical thinking. Clubs are typically proposed in districts where Christian groups such as the Good News Club already use school facilities, which forces districts to either grant equal access or close their forums entirely.
In Pennsylvania, the Saucon Valley School District initially approved an After School Satan Club in 2023 and then reversed course after public backlash. The ACLU sued, and in May 2023 a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction, ruling that the district’s stated justification was “pretext” for religious discrimination.16ACLU of Pennsylvania. Federal Court Orders Saucon Valley School District to Allow After School Satan Club to Meet The case settled that November for $200,000.17ACLU. The Satanic Temple v. Saucon Valley School District In Memphis, Tennessee, the Memphis-Shelby County Schools district was accused of charging the club special security and lighting fees not imposed on other organizations. That case settled for over $15,000, with voluntary dismissal in July 2024.18Action News 5. MSCS to Pay Satanic Temple $15K Following Settlement After School Satan Club Discrimination Suit
Abortion
After the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Temple filed suits in several states seeking religious exemptions from abortion restrictions, arguing that bans burden the free exercise of religion for members who treat abortion access as part of a protected religious ritual.
None has succeeded. In Idaho, a federal court dismissed the case in January 2024, ruling the Temple lacked standing because it could not identify a specific affected member in the state. The court also called the Temple’s novel theories, including arguments framing pregnancy regulations as a “taking” of property or “involuntary servitude,” “not legally sound.”19GovInfo. The Satanic Temple v. Labrador, Case No. 1:22-cv-00411-DCN The Ninth Circuit affirmed in August 2025, calling the Temple’s claims about potential members “too attenuated and speculative to confer standing.”20Courthouse News Service. Satanic Temple Blocked From Suing Over Idaho Abortion Ban In January 2026, the Seventh Circuit dismissed the Indiana challenge on standing grounds, with Judge Frank Easterbrook noting that even if the challenged law were struck down, other Indiana statutes requiring in-person physician visits would still bar the Temple from providing telemedicine abortions.21Courthouse News Service. Seventh Circuit Shuts Down Satanic Temple Challenge to Indiana Abortion Law A Missouri challenge ended when the Supreme Court declined to hear the case, and a Texas appeal is ongoing.
The Internal Controversies
In 2018, Greaves hired attorney Marc Randazza, known for representing Alex Jones and various neo-Nazi and white supremacist figures. The Los Angeles chapter disaffiliated, labeling Randazza “a Twitter troll and an agent of the alt-right,” and a co-head of the New York chapter resigned.22Vox. The Satanic Temple’s Affiliation With an Alt-Right Lawyer
Around the same time, Jex Blackmore, a national spokesperson and founder of the Detroit chapter, was pushed out after hosting a private ritual that included the phrase “execute the president,” which she described as symbolic performance art. Greaves said Blackmore had gone rogue; Blackmore said the incident was a pretext to remove someone who had become inconvenient. She later alleged “wide-ranging issues” around inclusion, financial transparency, treatment of women and people of color, and a culture of silencing internal critics.23Jezebel. Satanic Artist and Activist Jex Blackmore on Her Controversial Departure From the Satanic Temple
In October 2021, Newsweek published an article by Julia Duin titled “Orgies, Harassment, Fraud: Satanic Temple Rocked by Accusations, Lawsuit,” compiling grievances from former members. The piece detailed allegations of financial mismanagement, sexual misconduct at organization-sanctioned gatherings, internal bullying, and claims that leadership covered up reports of sexual abuse. One former member described “accounts of sexual abuse being covered up in ways that were more than anecdotal.”5Newsweek. Orgies, Harassment, Fraud: Satanic Temple Rocked by Accusations, Lawsuit
The Temple sued Newsweek for libel, focused on the cover-up quote. On May 28, 2026, the Second Circuit affirmed summary judgment for Newsweek. Applying New York’s anti-SLAPP statute, the court held that the Temple had to show “actual malice” because the article concerned a matter of public interest, and that it failed to meet that standard. The panel ruled that a reporter’s failure to follow internal editorial standards or to seek comment from Greaves on the specific quote did not amount to reckless disregard for the truth.24Reason. The Satanic Temple Loses Libel Suit Against Newsweek Over Accounts of Sexual Abuse Being Covered Up Allegation
It was not the first unsuccessful defamation suit. In 2020, the Temple sued former members in federal court in Washington state, seeking $143,000 in damages. A judge dismissed the case in February 2021, calling the claims “implausible” and citing the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine.5Newsweek. Orgies, Harassment, Fraud: Satanic Temple Rocked by Accusations, Lawsuit
Where Things Stand Now
Greaves has described the Temple’s core mission as preventing erosion of the separation between church and state, particularly in opposition to Christian nationalism. In a 2025 interview, he said the organization had adopted a more “apolitical in presentation” posture as a strategy, and encouraged people to “understand why they believe what they believe and reevaluate whether they have a rational basis for the viewpoints they hold.” He called the Trump administration’s “most defining characteristic” stupidity.25USA Today. Satanic Temple Lucien Greaves Trump Administration
The legal record is mixed. The Arkansas monument ruling is the most significant courtroom win and now sits on appeal at the Eighth Circuit. The After School Satan Club settlements in Pennsylvania and Tennessee produced practical results on equal access. The abortion and legislative prayer suits have been shut down repeatedly on standing or procedural grounds, and the Newsweek loss confirmed the high bar public organizations face under New York’s anti-SLAPP statute.