ICLU targets Ten Commandments in Vincennes

Once again, the ICLU is taking issue with the display of the Ten Commandments on a courthouse square.\nIn the wake of successful court battles with Indianapolis and Elkhart, the Indiana Civil Liberties Union is now targeting Vincennes. \nICLU Legal Director Ken Faulk said he gave Knox County officials 10 days to remove the monument before he takes legal action. Donated by the Fraternal Order of Eagles, the commandments have been displayed on the courthouse lawn since 1958. \n"It has nothing to do with the Ten Commandments or religion," Faulk said. "We've represented anti-abortions protesters in the past, who clearly have the right to freedom of speech. But this violates the establishment clause separating church and state."\nThe ICLU, Faulk said, has received several complaints and will soon name a plaintiff.\nThe threatened lawsuit has raised the ire of local clergy.\n"It's unthinkable," said Dan Burkhardt, an associate youth pastor at Free Methodist Church in Vincennes. "Somebody decided to make a gesture back in 1958, and they're trying to judge what was in his heart. You can't separate values from the gestures." \nBurkhardt worries about the example it will set for the children he counsels.\n"We're encouraging kids to make gestures," he said. "And they're sending the message that they'll be knocking at the door. You can make a good gesture, but you'll offend somebody."\nBut Burkhardt might not have any reason to fret.\nCounty officials said they intend to fight the litigation tooth-and-nail, and Knox County Councilman George Lane said he thinks he has a solution.\n"As soon as I heard the news, I started working on this problem," he said. "And I think this could be a nationwide catalyst. They're complaining that the commandments are on courthouse property. So we eliminate the property."\nLane spent much of Thursday afternoon on the phone, convincing fellow county government officials to deed the land the commandments sit on to a private nonprofit organization. He's already spoken with several groups, including the Knox County Historical and Antiquarian Society.\n"I think this could be a solution from Kokomo down to Mississippi, from the California coast to the Eastern seaboard," Lane said. "As a county councilman, I don't have to tell you how it affects people's hearts and minds. We've dodged all the bullets, but it's time we fire back."\nFor the ICLU, it's simply a matter of principle.\n"Similar monuments have been ruled unconstitutional," Faulk said. "And we've received complaints."\nBut the civil liberties watchdog group has come under fire from local elected officials.\n"The founders clearly never intended for religion to be banned from the public square," U.S. Rep. John Hostettler, R-8, said in a press release. "In a practice that continues to this day, the first Congress opened every session with prayer. The examples of religion in the public square are too numerous to recount, and they do not constitute an establishment of religion."\nHostettler said he plans to introduce legislation preventing public officials such as those in Knox County from being held personally liable for attorney fees and damages in establishment clause cases.\n"All too often, public officials are hesitant to pursue their Constitutional rights out of fear that they might be personally bankrupted if a judge rules against them," he said. "Constitutional law should be made by deliberation and original intent, not extortion"