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Today Liberty Counsel filed a Notice of Appeal on behalf of Dixie County, Florida, at the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals to defend the county’s Open Forum policy, which allows private displays of law and history, including the Ten Commandments. Liberty Counsel represents Dixie County in a federal lawsuit filed by the ACLU in 2007, after the county permitted a local resident to erect a Ten Commandments monument outside the county courthouse, where other private displays are also allowed.

The Ten Commandments monument was purchased and erected by Joe H. Anderson, Jr., a longtime resident, businessman, and benefactor in Dixie County. Mr. Anderson placed his monument in the Open Forum without any government funds, after he asked for and received permission from the county. Mr. Anderson owns and maintains the monument, not the county.

Dixie County is not establishing a religion by allowing a private individual to place a monument in a location where similar monuments may be placed. Dixie County should be applauded, not sued, for fostering open and robust speech in a public forum. Rather than take advantage of the forum, the ACLU prefers to censor speech with which it disagrees.

The U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Florida (Gainesville Division) ruled against Dixie County, ordering the Ten Commandments monument be removed by August 14, claiming it violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The plaintiff represented by the ACLU does not live in the county, has never lived in the county, and has no intent to ever return to the county. Liberty Counsel will argue on appeal that the case should be dismissed because the plaintiff has no standing to sue. Moreover, Liberty Counsel will argue that the case presents a Free Speech, not an Establishment Clause, issue. The Open Forum policy allows private citizens to erect private historical displays at their own expense. 

Read our News Release for more details.

Ten Commandments in American Law and Government

In courtrooms across the country, judges are ruling on whether or not it is constitutional to display the Ten Commandments in public places. Citing actual federal and state laws and constitutions, Mat Staver demonstrates how each commandment has had a strong impact on our laws and government since Colonial times.

This booklet should be on every judge's desk and in every citizen's home. Paperback, 16 pages. Request yours today for a suggested gift of $5.00.
 

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