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Legal victory for Texas Bible monument

A federal appeals court has refused to side with an atheist in a case that could determine the constitutionality of Bible monuments on public property. The case Staley v. Harris County, Texas involves a monument that was erected in front of the county courthouse in 1956 in Houston in honor of industrialist and philanthropist William Mosher.



The monument, which featured a Bible, was on display for more than four decades until atheist Kay Staley, a member of Americans United for Separation of Church and State and former employee of the ACLU, sued Harris County, claiming the monument violated her constitutional rights. A district court agreed and ruled that Bible should be removed.

Harris County appealed the ruling to the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The public interest law firm Liberty Legal Institute filed an amicus curiae brief in support of Harris County, and also assisted the county in preparing its briefs to the appellate court.

In its ruling, the Fifth Circuit said the case is moot because the entire monument has been removed due to renovations on the courthouse. Hiram Sasser, an attorney with Liberty Legal Institute, says the case is over for now. "Until this monument's placed where it's going to be permanently, you can't be attacking this monument anymore," he notes.

The appeals court's ruling is "a victory for the Mosher Memorial," Sasser says, "and it's going to be able to be put up in a good place and done right. So I think we'll be seeing that Bible display for another 50 or 100 years."

The Liberty Legal Institute attorney points out that the monument was refurbished in 1995 with private donations, so Harris County could not be accused of promoting one religion over another. The monument was erected by a homeless mission to honor the prominent and charitable citizen in whose name it was given.