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Suit Challenges County's Refusal To Display Church-State Separation Posters

By Howard M. Friedman

Yesterday Americans United announced that it has filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of a resident of Johnson County, Tennessee who sought to have the county display two posters on the separation of church and state in the lobby of the county court house.  The complaint (full text) in Stewart v. Johnson County, Tennessee,  (ED TN, filed 1/13/2010), alleges that the county has adopted a limited public forum policy permitting local residents and organizations to donate displays of historical documents that "directly relate to the development of law, the universally-valued principle of equal justice under the law, the history and heritage of the law of Johnson County, State of Tennessee, or the United States, and/or the specific function of the Courthouse itself."

Among the displays already in the court house is a display that features the Ten Commandments and other historical documents along with a 26-page pamphlet that includes an introduction titled "From Biblical Morality to Modern Law."  Plaintiff's proposed 44 inch by 28 inch posters were titled "On the Legal Heritage of the Separation of Church and State" and "The Ten Commandments Are Not the Foundation of American Law." The county rejected them because they did not contain historical documents.The lawsuit contends that the display of the Ten Commandments while rejecting these posters violates plaintiff's free speech rights, the Establishment Clause and Art. I, Sec. 3 of the Tennessee Constitution that prohibits giving legal preference to any religion. [Thanks to Bob Ritter for the lead.]

Full post as published by Religion Clause on January 14, 2011 (boomark / email).