Courthouse portrait of Jesus stays, but public hit with ACLU attorney fees
In a ruling filed Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle agreed to award “nominal” damages plus attorneys’ fees and costs to plaintiffs in the case against Slidell City Court, filed by lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana.
During a hearing last September, Lemelle said he would have ordered court officials to remove the Jesus icon if they hadn’t already expanded the display to include portraits of other historical “lawgivers,” including Moses, Charlemagne and Napoleon Bonaparte . . .
J. Michael Johnson, an Alliance Defense Fund lawyer who represented the Slidell court, said he is disappointed by Lemelle’s ruling and may file an appeal . . . “It’s unfortunate that the ACLU seems to be on a search-and-destroy mission for all things religious,” he said . . .
The How Appealing blog links to the opinion.
See also ADF’s earlier press release: Portraits of other famous lawgivers added alongside Jesus painting at Slidell courthouse that indicates:
“The purpose of the display has always been to use art to emphasize the importance of following the law in order to have a peaceful society. Slidell officials believe this expansion should reassure courthouse users or visitors that this is and always has been the legitimate purpose of the display,” Johnson added.
2 Trackbacks
[...] Last week, we posted this: Courthouse portrait of Jesus stays, but public hit with ACLU attorney fees. [...]
[...] Courthouse portrait of Jesus stays, but public hit with ACLU attorney fees [...]