FFRF received complaints from some of our Texas members after the state, in 2014, permitted the display of a Christian nativity at the Texas Capitol for the first time.
Fighting fire with fire, FFRF Attorney Sam Grover worked with several Austin-area members and found a legislator who values fairness and agreed to sponsor FFRF’s equal-time Winter Solstice display. FFRF applied for and received a permit for our display in December 2015.
FFRF placed an aluminum, full-color cutout of our own “nativity,” one honoring the Bill of Rights, with “three wise men” (Jefferson, Washington and Franklin) and the Statue of Liberty looking on at the metaphorical “birth” of the Bill of Rights. Our display included a short reference to the anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights on Dec. 15, 1791, and to the Winter Solstice. What could be more appropriate to honor in a state Capitol than the Bill of Rights? Gov. Greg Abbott, however, ordered our duly permitted display torn down. FFRF went to court, winning a final victory in district court this June. Abbott is now appealing this victory to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Abbott’s quotes, both as attorney general and as governor, were covered extensively during various controversies by media at the time, and are fully documented in FFRF’s Legal Complaint.
