Nativity display crosses legal line, judge decides

A federal judge ruled Thursday that a Nativity scene displayed on the Baxter County Courthouse grounds violated the First Amendment prohibition on the establishment of religion.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks ordered Baxter County to either bar religious displays on the courthouse property in Mountain Home or "create a public forum on the courthouse grounds for a seasonal display open to all faiths as well as of no faith at all, without discrimination of the basis of viewpoint."

He awarded $1 in damages to the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, the American Humanist Association and Mountain Home tattoo artist Dessa Blackthorn.

In his ruling, Brooks wrote that the purpose of the Nativity scene was to celebrate Christmas and that the celebration was "predominantly religious in nature."

In an email Thursday, County Judge Mickey Pendergrass said he was out of town dealing with family medical matters and had not had a chance to review the ruling, so he was withholding comment.

"I expect to have an announcement sometime next week about any plans we might have," he wrote.

Brooks issued the summary judgment Thursday in the case filed in December last year by the Washington, D.C.-based American Humanist Association and Blackthorn.

Summary judgments are requested when there are no disputes over the facts in a case, eliminating the need for a jury trial and leaving only the judge to rule on the case as a matter of law.

Blackthorn, who owns and operates Tattooz by Sassy, said she received a lot of calls Thursday from people thanking her for taking on the county over the matter.

"I am really happy for the 49 percent of Baxter County citizens who are not Christian," Blackthorn said Thursday.

She said some of the calls she got were from Christians who realized that the matter was not only about the Nativity scene but was about the U.S. Constitution and equal treatment of citizens.

Monica Miller, senior counsel for the humanist association, said Thursday that the ruling was a victory for the First Amendment and ensures that the government does not promote one religion over another or over a lack of religion.

"When the government allows a holiday display that represents just one faith, it implies endorsement of that faith, excluding all others, regardless of what they believe," association Executive Director Roy Speckhardt said in a news release Thursday.

The association's website says humanism is a philosophy of life that, without theism or supernatural beliefs, affirms people's "ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity."

The group and Blackthorn filed the lawsuit after Pendergrass signed a lease with the Mountain Home Chamber of Commerce in November 2014 for a patch of ground on the northwest corner of the courthouse grounds on which Mountain Home attorney Rick Spencer could display a Nativity scene.

Chamber of Commerce CEO and President Eddie Majeste said he heard that there was a ruling Thursday, but he didn't know what it was and did not want to comment.

Spencer's office said he was out of town and unavailable for comment.

After the lease agreement was made, the Baxter County Quorum Court in early December passed a resolution to put up a disclaimer next to the Nativity scene, Brooks recounted in Thursday's opinion.

It said: "During the Holiday Season, the County of Baxter salutes liberty. Let these festive lights and times remind us that we are keepers of the flame of liberty and our legacy of freedom. Whatever your religion or beliefs, enjoy the holidays. This display is owned and erected by private citizens of Baxter County."

At the same time that the county was allowing the display of the Nativity scene, Pendergrass twice denied requests -- in 2013 by several individuals, and in 2014 by the humanist association -- to display a banner next to the Nativity scene that said "Happy Solstice."

Miller couldn't say whether the American Humanist Association will seek to display the "Happy Solstice" banner if the county allows displays to continue, but said she did not think any such displays were appropriate on government property.

Blackthorn said if displays are allowed, she believes one of them will be a Jewish menorah because a request to display a menorah on the courthouse grounds was filed at the same time as the "Happy Solstice" banner request.

Brooks wrote in a footnote that Baxter County responded to the allegations in the lawsuit that the Nativity scene had a nonreligious purpose of attracting consumers to the county seat for seasonal shopping.

However, he wrote, he saw no evidence in the record of any economic motivation behind the decision to allow the display on the courthouse lawn.

In Little Rock, the state has had requests from Satanists, Hindus and others to place monuments on the state Capitol grounds alongside a planned monument of the Ten Commandments.

The New York-based Satanic Temple said its members are interested in placing a 1.5-ton, 8.5-foot-tall bronze tribute to the idol Baphomet on the Capitol grounds. Also, the Nevada-based Universal Society of Hinduism wants to erect a statue in honor of the monkey-faced Hindu deity Lord Hanuman.

J.R. Davis, a spokesman for Gov. Asa Hutchinson, said he hadn't talked to the governor about Brooks' ruling Thursday, although Hutchinson was aware of it. But he drew a distinction between the Baxter County case and action involving the Capitol grounds.

The Legislature passed Act 1231, sponsored by Sen. Jason Rapert, R-Bigelow, which compels the secretary of state to work with private groups willing to pay for the Ten Commandments monument.

He said any request to put a statue such as Baphomet on the Capitol grounds would have to be voted on by the Arkansas Legislature and then would have to go to the secretary of state's office, which is in charge of the Capitol grounds.

He said he could not envision the Legislature ever voting to approve a statue of Baphomet on the Capitol grounds.

The Arkansas Society of Freethinkers has also said it will push for its own monument, if the Ten Commandments monument is built on the Capitol grounds.

NW News on 11/13/2015

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