crobtex

Aug. 11, 2004, 7:04AM

Bible display must go, judge decrees
Harris County is given 10 days to remove monument outside courthouse
By RAD SALLEE
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
BIBLE RULING
A federal judge held that an open Bible displayed in a monument on county property is unconstitutional.
• The ruling: The judge said the monument has no secular purpose and advances religion.
• The outcome: The judge ordered its removal and charged Harris County the court costs and attorney's fees. An appeal is likely.

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that a Bible on display in a monument outside the Harris County Civil Courts Building is an unconstitutional promotion of religion by government, and ordered it removed within 10 days.

U.S. District Judge Sim Lake also ordered the county to pay $36,810 in attorney fees and $3,776 in court costs, as federal law provides in civil rights cases.

County Judge Robert Eckels said he is disappointed with the ruling and wants to appeal it. He said Commissioners Court will confer with County Attorney Mike Stafford to discuss strategy.

"I think they'll support it," Eckels said. "I think the point needs to be made that a monument to an individual is different from a religious display."

In trial last week, Assistant County Attorney Frank Sanders argued that the monument at 301 Fannin is intended to honor the memory of philanthropist William S. Mosher for his donations to the Star of Hope Mission. Sanders said the Bible, which lies open under glass and is lighted by orange neon, represents Mosher's Christian faith.

Lake's ruling does not require removing the 4-foot-tall stone monument to Mosher — only the Bible displayed inside. Although there has been talk of moving the monument, Eckels said it and the Bible should stay put.

"It's a historic monument that has been there half a century," he said.

Plaintiff Kay Staley called the decision "a great victory for religious freedom."

A real estate broker and attorney, Staley said she sued "because I wanted everyone in this city, with whatever religious beliefs, to be respected."

Staley said her own beliefs are "personal and not anybody else's business," but she said she's been interested in church-state issues since working for the American Civil Liberties Union in Atlanta during the 1960s.

Although her attorney Randall Kallinen is the new president of the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, he said he represents Staley as a private attorney. Kallinen said the county never had a valid case.

"Basically this is all a political game to them," he said. "They know they will lose, but they're just trying to get publicity for their political benefit at the expense of the Harris County taxpayers."

Lake's 26-page opinion said the display fails two parts of the three-pronged Lemon test, named for a 1971 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. The test says that to get past the First Amendment ban against an establishment of religion, such a display must have a secular purpose, must not advance nor inhibit religion, and must not foster an excessive entanglement with religion.

"The Bible atop the Mosher monument does not have a secular purpose, and the primary or principal effect of the Bible display is to advance religion," Lake wrote.

As evidence, he cited the Bible's prominent display, the lack of any explanation of its purpose — although a plaque mentions Mosher and Star of Hope — and the public ceremonies marking its restoration, featuring prayers and hymns, and the public protests against Staley's lawsuit.

All these things, Lake wrote, would cause a reasonable viewer to "conclude that the Bible display conveys the message that Christianity is favored or preferred by Harris County."

Former state District Judge John Devine, a leader of the drive to restore the monument from its dilapidated state, disagreed. "The Bible is a book of three faiths," he said, citing Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

"The president of the United States is sworn in on a Bible. The judge himself is sworn in," Devine said.

"The First Amendment says Congress shall not establish a religion or prevent the free exercise thereof," he said. "I can't see how the display of a Bible violates the establishment clause and establishes a religion."

Gary Brown, Star of Hope director of operations, testified that moving the monument to another location, such as one of the organization's missions, would not fulfill the purpose of reminding most people of the plight of the homeless.

In a 2002 case, a federal court ordered Roy Moore, Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, to remove a 5,280-pound granite monument to the Ten Commandments that he had installed in the rotunda of the Alabama Judicial Building. Moore refused and was later suspended from office by fellow court members. The monument was also removed.

kandgo

When is this going to stop???? I am thinking never until the Lord comes back! It is sad though to see what a few can do to oust something that this country was built on. It is a sad day when a Bible cannot be seen in any building. Let us keep on praying and standing up when we can against such things as this. God Bless and Goodluck,,,,,,Rick

apache

Sad, This nation is morally and ethically doomed IMO.

Mexstan

All of you said it. It is for reasons like this that the US is going downhill faster and faster.
So what is everybody doing about it? Besides just griping, handwringing and waiting for the next guy to do something?

Dan Brooks

The ACLU is just as much of a threat to this country as Al Quaida, IMHO. They have the potential to destroy everything good about the USA, and have already done a lot of damage.

Amazing how a small group can destroy so much.

trailblazenyj

hmmmm....$36,000 in attorney fees. Wonder if the ACLU lawyer would have been so fired up about the case if he thought the government wouldn't pick up his tab?

Kind of tarnishes the "doing it because it is the right thing to do" image for me.

This is besides the fact that I think the people who live there should decide. I'm not even going to touch on the religious aspects....

So, what happens the next time they try to swear somebody in to give testimony? Lets see: I solemnly swear to tell the truth, cross my heart and hope to die...

Wonder if that lady that filed the suit had to give a "sworn" statement?

kandgo

I personaly pray everyday for our nation and the world. Goodluck,,Rick