A religious display containing a Latin cross with the message “The Lord bless you and keep you” was removed from the counter where residents go to renew their auto tags at the Hardin County, Tenn., Courthouse Annex building.
A concerned Hardin County resident informed FFRF of the cross. Staff Attorney Christopher Line wrote a letter to County Clerk Paula Robinson Wilhite. In it, Line informs her that many court cases have upheld that the First Amendment “mandates governmental neutrality between religion and religion, and between religion and nonreligion,” and that having the cross display creates the perception that the government is endorsing Christianity.
In response, Wilhite sent a photo that showed the office without the cross and wrote, “My employee’s cross has been removed.”
