Habersham drops appeal of Ten Commandments ruling

<p>Habersham County has dropped its appeal of a federal judges order to remove its public Ten Commandments displays because it would cost taxpayers too much money, officials said Wednesday.</p><p>Two Habersham residents, the Rev. Charles Bo Turner of Tallulah Falls Baptist Church, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, and Gregg Holder, filed suit against the displays in March 2002. While hes a preacher, Turner said he believes that the Ten Commandments placement in government buildings violates an important separation between church and state.</p><p>In November, U.S. District Judge William OKelley ruled that the county must take down the displays at the county courthouse in Clarkesville and a public swimming pool complex because they were an unconstitutional promotion of religion by the government.</p><p>The display failed a 1971 test set by the U.S. Supreme Court in that the northeast Georgia county failed to retreat from the unambiguous religious purpose, OKelley said in his Nov. 18 ruling.</p><p>The Ten Commandments had been posted alongside historical legal documents, such as the Declaration of Independence, the Mayflower Compact, the Bill of Rights, the U.S. Constitution and the Magna Carta.</p><p>The county had been in the process of appealing the decision when commissioners Monday decided to drop the suit, said county manager William Shanahan.</p><p>When we went forward with it, it was not costing taxpayers any money. At this point, we cant guarantee that, he said.</p><p>Eric Stanley, chief attorney with the Liberty Counsel, an Orlando, Fla.-based conservative legal foundation that represented Habersham, said lawyers had provided their services to the county free of charge.</p><p>They were concerned about the risk. Should they lose, they would be liable to pay the ACLU attorneys fees, Stanley said.</p><p>Turner said he was relieved to be done with the two-year court battle, which had prompted hate mail, hostile phone calls and death threats to him from Ten Commandments supporters.</p><p>Im glad its over. It was going to cost money that we dont need to be spending, Turner said. Theres a lot of poor people and kids that arent able to be dressed warmly in the wintertime, and that money can be used for that.</p><p>The 70-year-old Turner, a former Clarkesville mayor, is no stranger to controversy in his small northeast Georgia community. The minister, who rides a motorcycle and bears a tattoo that says, Jesus was a liberal, has long supported the separation of church and state.</p><p>As a Christian, I think we ought to hang the writings on our walls in our home and our churches, but more importantly in our hearts _ but not in public buildings, he said.</p><p>Stanley said the county would have had a strong case to appeal OKelleys ruling.</p><p>I dont believe that dropping the appeal on the merits of the issue was warranted, but I understand why the commission dropped the appeal based on financial concerns, he said.</p><p>ACLU attorney Frank Derrickson agreed that a ruling in Habershams appeal could have set an interesting precedent for other Ten Commandments cases, including one pending in Barrow County.</p><p>The only downside to the (commissions) decision is that 11th Circuit wont get a chance to speak to OKelleys order, Derrickson said.</p><p>The displays have been removed since the November court decision, Shanahan said.</p><p>Some citizens had expressed disappointment when commissioners decided to drop the appeal, but many also were glad to end the issue, which had drawn national attention to the county, Shanahan said.</p><p>Ive had pros and cons with it, he said. Its one of those things, that nobodys a winner and hearts are hurt either way.</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2004/2/176780