Another Tennessee county ordered to remove commandments display
By The Associated Press
06.24.02
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A federal judge late last week ordered removal of a copy of the Ten Commandments posted in the Rutherford County Courthouse, ruling that it violates the constitutional separation of church and state.
County commissioners who voted in March to post the commandments had argued that the document was part of a historical display, "Foundations of American Law and Government."
But U.S. District Judge Robert Echols disagreed. "It is difficult for the Court to reach any conclusion other than that the sole purpose of erecting the challenged display was for the advancement of a religious purpose," he wrote in his June 21 ruling.
Echols gave the commissioners two options: Remove the entire display or remove the Ten Commandments alone. The display also includes reproductions of eight other historical documents — ranging from the Mayflower Compact and the Declaration of Independence to the Magna Carta and the Preamble of the Tennessee Constitution.
The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on April 18 — the same day the county posted the document on the courthouse wall. Hedy Weinberg, executive director for the ACLU in Tennessee, called Echols' ruling "an important decision."
"The decision promotes religious freedom and is important in ensuring that individuals are able to decide for themselves what religious tenets to adhere to," she told The Tennessean newspaper.
Rutherford County was represented without charge by the Liberty Counsel, an Orlando, Fla.-based organization that describes itself as a civil liberties advocacy group devoted to preserving religious freedom.
Liberty Counsel representatives could not immediately be reached for comment, but have said in the past that they would appeal if the court's decision wasn't in their favor.
The ruling is the second such victory for the ACLU in Tennessee this year. Last month, another federal judge ordered Hamilton County to remove Ten Commandments plaques from two of its court buildings in Chattanooga.
In April, Tennessee Attorney General Paul Summers issued an opinion deeming Ten Commandments displays on government property an unconstitutional promotion of religion.
More than half of Tennessee's 95 counties have approved displays similar to the one in Rutherford County, and more than 30 have posted the biblical laws. Washington County has had such a display for more than 80 years.