A federal lawsuit was filed last week challenging the display of the Ten Commandments in the courthouse in yet another Kentucky county. Yesterday's Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader reports that the ACLU has sued Jackson County and Judge-Executive William O. Smith seeking an injunction and a declaratory judgment that nine copies of the Ten Commandments on walls at various places in the courthouse in McKee (KY) violate the Establishment Clause. Separately, the ACLU has asked the state Administrative Office of the Courts to remove a large copy of the Ten Commandments on display in the court room in the Jackson County courthouse.
UPDATE: The July 11 Louisville Courier-Journal reports in more detail on the displays at issue. Framed copies of the Ten Commandments are posted at both entrances to the courthouse, outside several offices and next to a woman's restroom. Separate from these, and not the object of the ACLU's complaint, a Foundations of American Law and Government display (which includes the 10 Commandments among other historical documents) stands in the rear of the courthouse.
