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......again. The ACLU is at it again. This time in Haskell County, OK.



ACLU Seeks Removal of Courthouse Commandments
by Brendan Coyne (bio)

Oct 11 - Last week, the Oklahoma American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit demanding that a year-old monument of the Ten Commandments on courthouse grounds be immediately removed. The decision represents a turnaround by the group, which last year said it did not intend to challenge the display.

The Oklahoma ACLU filed suit in federal court Thursday, seeking the removal of an eight-foot-tall, $2,500 stone monument bearing the Ten Commandments from the lawn of the Haskell County courthouse. The suit was brought on behalf of Jim Green, who believes the monument belittles religion and is in direct violation of the US Constitution, the Associated Press reports.

"The Haskell County monument sends the message that people who adhere to a particular religious creed have favored status over other residents in the eyes of the court," Oklahoma ACLU staff attorney Tina Izadi told the AP.

Unveiled last November, the monument shows the commandments on one side and the Mayflower Compact on the other. At the time, the Oklahoma ACLU was anticipating a Supreme Court decision on such displays in general and said they did not intend to challenge the Christian display.

In related ruling this summer, the Supreme Court ordered framed copies of the Ten Commandments in Kentucky courthouses removed while allowing a granite depiction of the commandments outside a Texas courthouse to remain. The Texas case hinged on the fact that the display sits amid other monuments and statues honoring a variety of people and ideas.