County loses fight over Ten Commandments displays
By The Associated Press
05.06.02
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Editor's note: According to a May 17 Associated Press report, Hamilton County commissioners have agreed not to appeal U.S. District Judge Allan Edgar's order and said the Ten Commandments displays will be removed within 30 days of the order. Meanwhile, Charles Wysong Jr. of Ten Commandments-Tennessee, who originally agreed to pay the county's legal costs, said May 17 that his group wouldn't pay because the group disagreed with the commission's decision to have the county attorney argue the case.
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — A federal judge late last week ordered the removal of Ten Commandments plaques from two courthouses, ruling that their display violates the constitutional separation of church and state.
U.S. District Judge R. Allan Edgar on May 3 said the engraved plaques shaped like stone tablets must come down from the walls of the Hamilton County Courthouse and Hamilton County-City Courts Building.
However, Edgar said the Ten Commandments display can remain at the county's Juvenile Court building because the plaintiffs, the Tennessee chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and several county residents, did not have grounds to challenge that posting.
Edgar said none of the plaintiffs do business at the Juvenile Court so have not "endured unwelcome contact" with the display there.
The Ten Commandments were posted in December after a vote by Hamilton County commissioners in the days following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Edgar said the nation's founders made a conscious decision to separate religion and government, which "has served us well."
"Experience tells us that there is perhaps nothing more divisive than the interjection of religion into our government. The controversy engendered by this commission action is proof of this," Edgar wrote.
He said that with the postings, "the commission has acted with both the purpose and effect of endorsing religion."
More than half of Tennessee's 95 counties have approved similar Ten Commandments displays, and more than 30 have posted the biblical laws. Washington County has had such a display for more than 80 years.
Tennessee ACLU director Hedy Weinberg called the decision a victory for religious freedom and said she hopes other county commissions take heed of this decision and either not post the Ten Commandments in their public buildings or take down those postings currently on display.
Although Edgar's opinion only affects counties in the eastern part of the state, Weinberg said judges usually respect the opinions of their peers.
The ACLU has also sued in Rutherford County, located in Middle Tennessee, over the posting of the Ten Commandments in the Murfreesboro courthouse and goes to court there today.
Weinberg said the ACLU has begun talking with potential plaintiffs who have done business at the Hamilton County Juvenile Court building and will file another suit to seek the plaque's removal there.
Hamilton County Commissioner Curtis Adams said that plaque likely would remain up unless a judge orders it removed, but he said the other two Ten Commandments displays would come down.
"We don't plan to appeal," Adams said. "We promised the people of Hamilton County that we would not spend taxpayer money on this lawsuit. To appeal the judge's decision could be a long drawn-out process costing $300,000 to $400,000, and I don't think we could raise that much money privately. … We feel like we gave it our best shot."
Adams said he planned to suggest that the plaques be put up for sale. They cost about $1,000 apiece.
Charles Wysong Jr., president of Ten Commandments-Tennessee, said he was glad the plaque in Juvenile Court could remain up and called the judge's conclusion "utter nonsense."
"Acknowledging God in this country is not a violation of the First Amendment," he said.
Update
Commandments foes can't remain anonymous
Meanwhile, Hamilton County, Tenn., officials abandon plans to display group of historical documents containing religious codes.
08.01.02
Previous
County attorney: Ten Commandments displays aren't religious
Tennessee officials tell federal judge that postings are secular reminders for citizens to obey the law.
04.30.02
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3 judges order Ten Commandments displays taken down
But another judge in Tennessee county says he'll leave religious codes in courtroom until ordered to remove them.
02.23.02
