''Green v. Haskell County Board of Commissioners'', 568 F.3d 784 (10th Cir. 2009), was a

First Amendment First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

case concerning the placing of a

Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (), or the Decalogue (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , ), are religious and ethical directives, structured as a covenant document, that, according to the Hebrew Bible, were given by YHWH to Moses. The text of the Ten ...

monument on public property, an alleged violation of the

separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and Jurisprudence, jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the State (polity), state. Conceptually, the term refers to ...

Facts

The case involved the presence of a Ten Commandments monument on the Haskell County,

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

Courthouse lawn. Since the lawn is public property, James Green, a local resident, felt that the monument's presence was, ''ipso facto'', a violation of the First Amendment's separation of church and state. With the support of the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. T ...

(ACLU), Green sued in 2004 to have the monument removed.

Tenth Circuit finding and aftermath

The

United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (in case citations, 10th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Colorado * District of Kansas * Dist ...

ruled in ''Green v. Haskell County Board of Commissioners'' that the monument must be removed from the courthouse lawn. Federal Judge Ronald A. White allowed the monument to remain whilst the Haskell county commissioners appealed the Tenth Circuit's decision, but the order for its removal became enforceable when the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

declined to hear the case on March 1, 2010.130 S.Ct. 1687 (2010). As Commissioner Kenny Short put it, "It will have to go. There's no getting around that now." Though the county employees tasked with preparing the monument for removal were heckled by locals, the monument was eventually moved to the lawn of the

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States, U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It comprises U.S. state, state, Territories of the United States, U.S. terr ...

(where it still rests), only a few feet away from the courthouse. According to the July 7 and July 14 editions of the Stigler News Sentinel, the ACLU, led by Joanne Bell, requested $250,000 in court fees from Haskell County. The Haskell County Board of Supervisors acquiesced, agreeing to pay the $250,000 over a 10-year period.

References

Other source materials: ''Stigler News Sentinel'' of 3/11/2010, 3/18/2010, 7/7/2010 and 7/14/2010.

External links

*
Case brief

ACLU press release
linked fro
US Law.com
Establishment Clause case law 2009 in United States case law 2009 in religion Ten Commandments Haskell County, Oklahoma United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit cases Legal history of Oklahoma {{Oklahoma-stub

Facts

Tenth Circuit finding and aftermath

See also

References

External links