FFRF has successfully gotten an unconstitutional Ten Commandments display inside a Kentucky county courthouse taken down. A Kentucky resident contacted FFRF to complain after encountering the Ten Commandments on display inside the Spencer County Courthouse during a visit there. FFRF requested that the county cease displaying the bible edicts, since such a display in the county courthouse was not only an unconstitutional show of government favoritism toward religion, but needlessly alienated and excluded county residents who do not share the religious beliefs of the Ten Commandments. “A Ten Commandments display in a county courthouse violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment,” FFRF Legal Fellow Sammi Lawrence wrote to Spencer County Judge-Executive Scott Travis. “In McCreary County v. ACLU (2005), the Supreme Court ruled that displays of the Ten Commandments in two Kentucky courthouses violated the Constitution.” FFRF asked that the religious display be removed from the Spencer County Courthouse out of respect for the Constitution and the rights of conscience of the county’s residents. FFRF’s reasoning prevailed. “This email is intended to notify you that the display referenced in the letter has been taken down,” the county attorney recently replied.
March 12, 2024
