The small town of Ave Maria, Fla., is home to Ave Maria University, a strictly Catholic institution – and critics say, an undemocratic form of government dominated by one man’s interpretation of religious doctrine.

The community of about 2,500 souls is a project of eccentric millionaire and Domino’s Pizza founder Tom Monaghan, who reportedly planned the town as an ultra- conservative Catholic enclave in an isolated stretch of Florida countryside.

Now, outsiders are raising concerns about the constitutionality of Monaghan’s dream town, which is centred around a large Catholic church.

A recent Truthout article reports that Monaghan has forbidden the sale of all contraceptives, including condoms, within town limits. His mission to restrict the contraceptives access of Ave Maria residents came to a head after Naples Community Hospital attempted, and failed, to open medical offices in town.

Howard Simon, the executive director of the ACLU’s Florida affiliate, told Truthout that contraception access became the sticking point. The hospital refused to prohibit its doctors from prescribing contraception, performing abortions or providing abortion referrals, and thus could not open offices in Ave Maria.“We want to respect people's choices,” Simon told Truthout. “But when government gives authority to religious groups to govern in accordance with religious rules, it goes too far and violates the Constitution.”

Monaghan, of course, is no stranger to anyone who follows the Religious Right’s ongoing crusade against contraception access. He’s the driving force between two lawsuits against the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate: His Michigan-based corporation, Domino’s Farms, earned an exemption from the mandate due to Monaghan’s religious views.

And Ave Maria University, which he founded, is engaged in a meandering legal battle over the terms of its exemption from the same mandate; it recently won a preliminary injunction against providing the government with the name of its insurer. The government requires that information in order to provide Ave Maria’s employees with contraception coverage from an independent, third-party insurance plan at no cost to the school

Monaghan hasn’t been shy about his intention to run Ave Maria the town like Ave Maria the school. In 2005, he told the Wall Street Journal that, “There is not going to be any pornographic television in Ave Maria Town. If you go to the drug store and you want to buy the pill or the condoms or contraception, you won’t be able to get that in Ave Maria Town.”

If it seems a bit unusual that one man possesses so much control over the government of a town, that’s because it is. Thanks to a law passed by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Monaghan co-owns the town along with the Barron-Collier development company – and they can retain that control for perpetuity. Ave Maria holds no elections. Every member of its governing board has been handpicked by Monaghan and Barron-Collier.

And that, along with Monaghan’s decision to restrict contraception access and make moral decisions for the people living under his rule, raises serious issues.

Ave Maria is now nothing more than a vanity project for a fundamentalist magnate. But real people live there, and they’re entitled to constitutional rights. Monaghan’s millions can’t buy him the power to override the First Amendment. It is flatly illegal to legislate based on religious dogma. There is no secular rationale for forbidding the sale of all contraceptive devices, or for blocking much-needed medical offices on the basis that one individual finds the services they provide to be morally objectionable.AU"s Rob Boston told Truthout that there have been efforts before in America to build entire communities based on someone's interpretation of therology. They usually fall apart due to internal discord. It's too early to tell what will happen in Florida, but one thing is clear: Monaghan’s mini-theocracy in the Sunshine State is directly antithetical to the most basic principles of American democracy. It’s time for secular law in Ave Maria.