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Suit in federal court challenges Ten Commandments at courthouse
At the request of one of its members from Jackson County, the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in London against Jackson County and Jackson County Judge-Executive William O. Smith over nine separate displays of the Ten Commandments in the Jackson County Courthouse.
The lawsuit, which was filed July 2 on behalf of Eugene Phillips Jr., claims the displays violate the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits establishment of religion by the government.
The displays, which have been in the courthouse since 1999, are at the front and back entrances, outside of the clerks’ offices, outside the PVA’s office, on the stairs leading to the courtroom, outside the courtroom across from the elevator and next to one of the bathrooms,
“The version of the Ten Commandments on display in the Jackson County courthouse contains expressly sectarian and religious commands, such as observing the Sabbath, not worshiping idols, believing in a deity and not taking the deity’s name in vain,” the ACLU claims in the lawsuit.
While conducting routine business at the courthouse, the ACLU claims it members are exposed the displays.
“The exposure to these stand-alone Ten Commandments displays is direct and unwelcome, in that each ACLU member perceives these displays as an unmistakable message of religious endorsement by Jackson County in violation of the First Amendment to the United State Constitution,” the complaint reads.
The ACLU has previously recognized display of the Ten Commands as part of a group of historical documents on which the United States is founded, such as what is on display at the Laurel County Courthouse.
“There is no indication that the (Jackson County) Fiscal Court authorized the Ten Commandments displays for any secular purpose, nor that the court’s predominant purpose was anything other than the advancement of religion.”
The ACLU is asking the court to declare the displays unconstitutional, issue an injunction against them remaining on display, nominal damages and costs and attorneys fees.
Jackson County officials have not yet filed a response to the lawsuit. Smith said Wednesday he has not yet received been served with the lawsuit.
No trial date has been set in the case. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Amul Thapar.
Staff writer Dean Manning can be reached by e-mail at dmannning@sentinel-echo.com.
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