Thoughts in a Haystack

Well, the Giles County (Virginia) School Board's attempted dive into posting of Ten Commandment in a public school is that much closer to the bottom of the empty pool of Constitutional law on the subject.

A judge declined to dismiss a lawsuit challenging a display of the Ten Commandments in a Giles County school Monday, setting the stage for a long legal battle.

U.S. District Court Judge Michael Urbanski said there are too many unknown facts about the case to immediately throw it out for legal reasons.

"Facts matter, so how can I grant a motion to dismiss?" the judge said. "You can't just apply a one-size-fits-all because the facts are very different" in prior court cases involving the Ten Commandments in public buildings.

That refers to Liberty Counsel's (and probably the worst lawyer in America, Mathew Staver's) claim that the school board had nothing to do with the present display, despite all the evidence to the contrary that I've already mentioned.

When the decision is filed online, I'll share any juicy bits.

But that doesn't come close to exhausting Liberty Counsel's and Staver's disingenuousness:

Urbanski delayed ruling on a second issue -- whether the student and a parent who joined in the lawsuit can remain anonymous -- while lawyers try to work out an agreement.

The case has stirred such acrimony in rural Giles County that identifying the student would subject him or her to harassment or worse, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the lawsuit.

But keeping the names secret runs counter to the fundamental principle of open courts, an attorney for the school board said.

"You can't simply defend a case in the dark," said Mathew Staver of the Christian-based Liberty Counsel. "You can't shadow box when you don't know who's punching."

Staver objected to a protective order suggested by the ACLU that would allow the plaintiffs to keep their current pseudonyms of Doe 1 and Doe 2 and allow them to avoid a court appearance by testifying through deposition.

Although the school board's legal team would know the plaintiffs' identity, the ACLU wants a protective order that would bar them from sharing that information with the board.

"Don't you think that might be appropriate when you have the chairman of the board of supervisors calling these people anonymous cowards?" Urbanski asked Staver at one point during two hours of oral arguments in which he peppered both sides with questions. "That didn't just come from a man on the street, that came from a public official."

The judge was referring to a comment made by supervisors Chairman Eric Gentry during a school board public hearing, that Giles County "won't let an anonymous coward tell us how to run our business."

There is only one issue where the identity of the plaintiffs is remotely relevant and that is "standing." Essentially, if one of the plaintiffs was a student in the school when the display was posted, there is standing. That fact is easily determined by affidavit, in camera examination and documentary evidence from the school. There is no "punching" required by the plaintiff ... if the plaintiff has standing, either the school board's actions were constitutional or they were not and it matters not a whit whether the plaintiff was "offended" by the display; was an atheist, a theist of some sect that does not honor the Ten Commandments or was a Christian who just didn't want officious government bureaucrats foisting their viewpoints on him or her at taxpayer expense.

The only possible reason to reveal the identity of the plaintiffs is so people like Eric Gentry and the other allegedly "good" people of Giles County can make their lives hell and, perhaps, drive them into dropping the suit.

Once again, the people who so loudly proclaim their moral superiority, disprove it at every turn.
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As noted, the Giles County (Virginia) School Board has been sued by the ACLU over its insistence on displaying the Ten Commandment in its schools under the micro-angstrom veneer of a supposedly "historical display."

The ACLU has made a motion to require that the names of the student and his/her parent remain anonymous (under the designation "DOE 1, by Doe 1's next friend and parent, DOE 2"). As exhibits to the motion, the ACLU has included emails it has received, as well as comments from the Roanoke Times Newspaper website.

Here is a sampling:

From: [Withheld to protect the clueless]
Sent: Friday, January 21,2011 11:23 PM
To: intake@acluva.org
Subject: To the director

Dear sir,
I just want to tell you, after hearing your comments on WSLS-10 tonight regarding the Giles Co. School situation, Satan is very proud of you for doing what you're doing. You're accomplishing a great deal for his kingdom! You go, and get those awful "10 Commandments" away from those kids! Make sure they're not indoctrinated with those horrible things like "do not kill" and "do not steal", and especially "honor your Father and your Mother"! We wouldn't want them exposed to ANY of that rubbish now would we? Keep up the good work, you'll have a special place in Hell.

Umm ... what about those other things like "I am the Lord thy God," and "Thou shalt have no other gods before me," and, perhaps most importantly from a constitutional perspective, "I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me"?

Amusingly, the Supreme Court has already addressed this in Stone v. Graham, a 1980 decision concerning a Kentucky statute requiring the posting of a copy of the Ten Commandments (purchased with private contributions) on the wall of each public school classroom in the State. As the Court said:

The preeminent purpose for posting the Ten Commandments on schoolroom walls is plainly religious in nature. The Ten Commandments are undeniably a sacred text in the Jewish and Christian faiths, and no legislative recitation of a supposed secular purpose can blind us to that fact. The Commandments do not confine themselves to arguably secular matters, such as honoring one's parents, killing or murder, adultery, stealing, false witness, and covetousness. ... Rather, the first part of the Commandments concerns the religious duties of believers: worshipping the Lord God alone, avoiding idolatry, not using the Lord's name in vain, and observing the Sabbath Day.

If all the proponents of Giles County's action want is to tell kids that killing and stealing are bad and "honoring" parents is good, why is wrapping it up in a religious text necessary?

From: [Withheld, etc.]
Sent: Saturday, January 29, 2011 3:35 PM
To: acluva@acluva.org
Subject: Ten Commandments in Schools

In such a beautiful world that God has created for us, why does there have to be a minute group of oxy morons [sic] who try to dictate to those of us who maintain our strong beliefs? We don't dictate to you because your path is clear. Continue on my friends. Perhaps one day there may be a plane that travels to "you know where" and ! would gladly buy each of you a one way ticket!

Leave the people of Giles County alone. They are not bothering you so take a ride to where somebody wants you, perhaps...."you know where!"

As the song goes, Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus!

Please slither back under your rocks! May God Bless!

Well, the "people of Giles County" includes the plaintiffs in this case and the government is dictating to them that their tax money will be used to impose other peoples' strong beliefs on them. Why is that okay? But that "Please slither back under your rocks! May God Bless!" is a nice touch, I have to admit.

But even better is this:

From: [Withheld, etc.]
Sent: Friday, January 21, 2011 11:14 PM
To: aciuva@acluva.org
Subject: Back off of Giles schools

Your position is nothing more than an atheist position. Back off the Giles County schools.

Why must you always get involved in these matters when there is nothing that concerns you all.

It is our GOD that allowed you to be on this earth. You realize that our Lord is watching all that your group is doing to his name in these matters.

One day when you are near your end days, I can only hope that you pray and ask GOD for his forgiveness.

For now, I will pray that the one day comes sooner for you all rather than later. Let our prays be answered dear Lord.

AMEN.

If your God exists, do you suppose he/she/it is watching while you pray that someone dies sooner than later?

Then there is this from a woman who is a teacher at the Eastern Comb School in Giles County:

From: [Withheld, etc.]
Date: January 20, 2611 7:16:28 PM CST
To:
Subject: Giles County Schools

You folks are allowing Satin [sic] to rule you!!! I praise God that in the end He will win and I will be right there with Him. My prayer for you is that you and your followers will come to Jesus. Shame on you for treating our students in the manner you are treating them. Back in my school days we prayed in public schools and we discussed God in public schools we didnt have bullies., we didnt have students killing students and teachers! Again shame on you, I hold your organization responsible! Again I am praying that you will be strong enough to run Satin [sic] out of your life, because we will fight for Jesus in Giles County. You might win the battle, but I promise you, without Jesus you WILL NOT win the war! Following Satin [sic] is such and easy out following Jesus is the challenge and thus makes us Christians stronger. Praying for you.

Did we have teachers who couldn't spell even simple words back then? If I thought it would do any good, I'd pray for your students.

Some of the newspaper comments:

I think it is a shame that out of thousands of people 350 of them find it offensive to see "Love thy father and mother" and "Thou shalt not steal" posted somewhere that our children will see it daily. That is what is wrong with this world now, people trying to impose their beliefs on everybody else. Isn't that what America is about? I am totally behind the school board in placing these "commandments" back where my son can be reminded daily of the true values that are so important in these times that we live in now. If people don't want to see them, don't read them!!!

Surely this is the irony meter destruction leader! If you want your son to see the Ten Commandments every day, why not put them up in his room or on your front door? Why insist on imposing them on everyone else's children and make them close their eyes if they don't want to see them? Or maybe that's what he means by "what America is about."

Maybe we should ship these "families" overseas to play in the sand with al-Quaida [sic] for a little while ... maybe then, they would seek God's word!

Naturally, it is really in the best tradition of America to deport anyone who disagrees with us ...

Of course, there are even more direct methods:

Sure sounds to me like non-Christians ought to move out of Giles County before things get ugly over there.

There is a long tradition of how to deal with the uppity!

Besides strongly supporting the need to protect the plaintiffs in this case, these expressions are also evidence that the fig leaf of calling the display "historical" is just a disingenuous attempt to evade the law.

Under the "Endorsement Test" of the constitutionality of government speech, first proposed by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the issue is whether the school board's action creates a perception in the mind of a reasonable observer that the government is endorsing religion or conveys, in Justice O'Connor's words, "a message to non-adherents that they are outsiders, not full members of the political community, and an accompanying message to adherents that they are insiders, favored members of the political community."

While none of the people quoted above could remotely be called "reasonable," it is clear that their perception is that the school board has, all along, been endorsing religion -- and a rather narrow, sectarian religion at that -- and that anyone who disagrees is an outsider and not a full member of the political community, unlike those who feel they are entitled to denigrate, deport or do even worse to those who don't share their beliefs.
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As I noted before, the Giles County (Virginia) School Board had taken the plunge and continued the posting of the Ten Commandments in its schools with the fig leaf of making it a part of a "historic display."

Pulaski and McCreary Counties in Kentucky have been struggling to pay off the $460,000 in legal fees and interest they owe the ACLU for trying the exact same scam that the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals saw through and the Supreme Court refused to grant certiorari to review.

Now, as noted by Ed Brayton, the ACLU has started a suit against the school board that can hardly be anything but a slam dunk.

Unfortunately, the ones lying hurt in the bottom of the pool are mostly going to be the school kids in Giles County ... both the ones who are having their right to be free of taxpayer-financed majoritarian proselytizing and the ones who will have school resources dumped down the drain of this hopeless attempt to circumvent the Constitution.

___________________________________

P.S. Rob Boston at The Wall of Separation has an article about the dangers of taking on First Amendment cases in rural Fundiland. Naturally, the student and his/her parent who are suing the school board have asked to be anonymous. The comments that have already been circulating are certainly filled with hate, if not overtly threatening.

But this is all you need to know about what's wrong with Giles County:

"You folks are allowing Satin [sic] to rule you!!!" wrote a woman identified in the pleadings as a Giles County elementary school teacher.

The demonizing of fabric is an ugly thing.
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Newspeak is alive and well and living in Virginia.

As I noted before, the Giles County School Board is operating under a severe handicap ... it is being advised by Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel, who is possibly the worst lawyer in America.

Concerning the latest action of the board, Staver had this to say:

"This particular display...has been upheld three times by three different courts of appeal decisions," reports Mat Staver of the Liberty Counsel, who is advising the board. "So we're very confident."

This, of course, ignores the fact that the Supreme Court recently denied certiorari on an appeal from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals that found that "historical displays" that included parts of the Declaration of Independence, the Mayflower Compact, the national motto and other documents, along with the Ten Commandments, wasn't enough to demonstrate that government entities weren't engaged in an unconstitutional attempt by to spread a religious message. On the contrary, as I've been demonstrating, the evidence is clear that the motives of the school board majority in this case has been to advance religion in general and Fundamentalist Christianity in particular.

But here is the latest quote from Oceania:

Staver says it would help if the Public Expression of Religion Act, which made it through the U.S. House in 2006 but failed in the Senate, was passed.

"That particular law says that whenever you file suit over these public expressions of religion, that [no] attorneys fees...will be given to the side that prevails," the Liberty Counsel attorney explains. "I think that would ultimately stop the intimidation that we see in groups like the ACLU."

You see, the majority is being "intimidated" by being prevented from using the tax money of everyone to make anyone not in the majority feel like second class citizens who have no rights.

Minority rights are intimidation.
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Well, the Giles County School Board has released the minutes of its June 7th meeting at which it approved the "historical displays" that include the Ten Commandments. As I suspected, there is some good ammunition for the ACLU, should it go ahead with its intended suit.

School Board member Drema K. McMahon:

Our teachers and our staff continue to do an outstanding job even though they have not had a raise in 4 years and we are talking about spending $350,000 to fight this to the Supreme Court. They are paying the same fuel cost that we are, the same increased electric bills, they have house payments and car payments and children to feed and clothe and send to college. Our staff here has put hours and hours into this already. Dr. Arbogast has put many hours on emails and phone calls and interviews regarding these documents. His job is commitment to excellence in education for the students of our county. Speakers addressing the School Board have referred to the Ten Commandments, not the historical documents. You have come carrying banners of the Ten Commandments; you wear support of the Ten Commandments on your t-shirts.

This is important in that it shows that members of the school board were fully cognizant of the fact that the support for these "historical displays" was actually support for hanging the Ten Commandments as a religious expression ... a situation reinforced by the statement of a local citizen:

Samuel Marshall:

You were talking about the costs of this. Through southwest Virginia, you not only have the support in this county, you have the support of Christians throughout Southwest Virginia that will fight with you if necessary and the support of this $350,000 or whatever. I thank you again for accepting this. If we have to, we will fight. As a Christian, thanks be to god that it has gone this way and god will prevail. This is not over by a long shot and it wind [sic] up in schools across this country. We thank you.

Another potentially interesting statement was by School Board member J. B. Buckland, concerning a local businessman, Charlie Henderson, who had previously donated a playground and ball fields to the school district and who pledged his "spiritual, physical and financial resources" to the board if it approved the displays. Mr. Buckland said:

We appreciate Mr. Henderson. I think that relieves a lot of pressure thinking it is going to take local funds. He has assured us. He is a man of his word. We appreciate all of you.

Now, of course, the very intent of the law that makes governments responsible for the legal fees of individuals who demonstrate that government action violates the Constitution is to encourage individuals to fight such actions and to discourage governments from engaging in them. The fact that the board is counting on others to bail it out tends to show that the board was not considering what was right under the Constitution but was, instead, following the wishes of the majority in spite of the Constitution.

Lastly, there is this sensible statement:

School Board member J. Lewis Webb, Jr.:

This issue, in my thinking, creates a great conflict between what is in my heart as opposed to my mind. When I first became a school board member, I took an oath to uphold the Constitution of this great country and to provide the best possible education for our students. Personally, I feel this issue violates the Constitution as it has been overturned many times by the Supreme Court. I feel that many people are asking the school systems throughout our nation to do more and more to help them raise their children. Schools can NOT do it all. Much has to come from the home and the community. As I've heard said many times before, IT TAKES AN ENTIRE VILLAGE TO RAISE A CHILD. I applaud all who have stood up for this VERY important issue and respect your opinion very much. All I ask of you is to respect my position as well. This nation would not be the strong nation it is if it were made up of all like thinking people and the freedom of every individual to have an opinion.

They just can't help themselves.

The Giles County School Board hasn't yet posted the minutes to its meeting on June 7, 2011, at which it approved the creation of school displays of several documents of "special historical significance to our community, our county, and our country's history," that just happen to include the Ten Commandments. But the good people from the press were there and have given us some of the flavor of it:

Sammy Marshall, a Giles County resident, said he would provide finances if a legal battle resulted from the board's decision.

"We not only have support for this in Giles County but the support of Christians across Southwest Virginia," Marshall said. "We will fight this. God will prevail. This is not over by a long shot. We will not stop until the Ten Commandments are in every school in this country."

But, of course, the purpose of the board in doing this is purely secular!
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Well, the Giles County School Board has gone and done it by a 3 to 2 majority: it will order "historical" displays installed in its schools that include the Ten Commandments.

There were some interesting things in the report in The Roanoke Times:

"This issue creates a great conflict between what is in my heart as opposed to my mind," [Board member Lewis]Webb said after the vote. "I took an oath to uphold the Constitution of this great country. ... Personally, I feel this issue violates the Constitution."

Well, hooray! At least one local official takes his oath of office seriously.

Not so much some others:

Giles County supervisors Chairman Eric Gentry said his board, which provides the school district funds each year from tax revenue, has no stance on the matter.

He supports the commandments in schools and the district going to court.

"The trick there is not to lose," he said Wednesday. "We've got a long way to go before anything happens at all."

You may remember that Gentry was singing a somewhat different song not long ago at a previous board meeting:

Now let me speak to you as Eric Gentry, as a Chairman of the Board of Supervisors of Giles County. I talked to all of my board members last night and today. Don’t remove them. We are behind you. We would rather fight the ACLU or whoever would come up than have one anonymous coward who would not even sign the letter come in and tell us how to run our schools. I don’t know how it’s going to turn out and don’t know if it’s going to go that far, but you know you have our support as county people and citizens.”

If the board members detect the faint smell of politicians burning rubber while backing up, wait until this all goes wrong and the school district winds up with a whopping big judgment against them for the plaintiff's legal fees.

Charles C. Haynes, a prominent First Amendment scholar, calls it "a close case" but I think he is being kind to the rubes. He notes that the pro-commandments outpouring from churches and hundreds of citizens will be a factor before the court and "[i]f we all know what's really going on here, the court will look at that." In other words, if it can be demonstrated that this is about promulgating religion in public schools, the district will lose.

But all you have to do is look at the minutes of the board meetings I've already linked to (indeed, every meeting, beginning on January 20th and going through May 19th, except for April 12th, dealt with the Ten Commandments issue to a greater or lesser extent) to see what the motives of the members of the board are ... at least the ones who don't care about their oaths. Mr. Webb will have Buckingham-ish difficulty backing out of his statement about the unconstitutionality of the decision and his testimony is likely to be most awkward for the board.

The board hasn't posted the minutes of the June 7th meeting yet but I wouldn't be a bit surprised if there is more ammunition for the ACLU when they get around to it. In any case, I'm saving all those minutes just in case there is a memory hole accident.
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The Giles County (Virginia) School Board has flirted with jumping off the same sort of cliff that the Dover School Board did. This time it isn't about pushing Intelligent Design Creationism in public schools but, rather, the posting of the Ten Commandments.

The district had posted the Commandments after the shootings at Columbine High School and there wasn't any controversy until December 2010, when a complaint was made. The board then took them down at the advice of its attorney. After a public outcry, they were briefly put back up again but then taken down once more.

Never fear, the ... um ... fifth time's the charm.

A local Assistant Commonwealth Attorney, Bobby Lilly, has proposed a Resolution to set up a "presentation of historical documents" that just [cough] happen to include the Ten Commandments. The Resolution is rather long but can be seen in its entirety in the school board's minutes for May 19, 2011. The gist of it is:

RESOLUTION OF GILES COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD FOR POSTING OF HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS

It is recognized by the Board that many documents and symbols, taken as a whole, have special historical significance to our community, our county, and our country’s history. Some of these documents and symbols include, but are not limited to, the idea of equal justice under law as symbolized by Lady Justice; the Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution, the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, the Declaration of Independence, the Virginia Declaration of Rights, the Mayflower Compact, the Magna Carta and the Ten Commandments. ...

I suppose we should stop here and contemplate just where in the Ten Commandments the idea of equal justice under law is symbolized. Do you get equal justice if you want to make for yourself an idol (other than an American Idol, that is) and the law stops you or if you take the name of the Lord in vain, because you disagree about just who the "Lord" is, and the law punishes you? Or are equal rights only for those who believe in the Bible?

Anyway, to continue:

A sense of historical context, civic duty and responsibility, and a general appreciation and understanding of the law of this land are all desirable components of the education of the youth of the county. We believe these above named documents positively contribute to the educational foundations and moral character of students in our schools. There may be other documents, speeches, letter, and writings which are equally important as those mentioned above, but, it is our opinion, that these above mentioned documents that may instill qualities desirable of the students in our schools, have had particular historical significance in the development of this country.

For all of these reason, BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED AS FOLLOWS:

1. The Giles County School Board will allow the posting of the above named documents together, in a display in Giles High School and other schools in the district as set forth herein. ... The document display shall also include a brief explanatory document, suitably framed. These historical displays shall be financed by funds of private organizations, and no school funds shall be used for this purpose. No service of school personnel of the school district shall be utilized during any time such employee is employed by the school district and no school employee shall be required to assist in placing the above mentioned documents in any school. ...

2. The display of these historical documents shall be uniform in size and content. No document shall be larger or given any prominence over any other document in the display ...

So far, this is pretty clever in terms of isolating the school board from direct involvement with the display ... except, of course, in choosing the original ones to include, which will likely be the plan's undoing. The "brief explanatory document" is also a possible pitfall.

A potential source of amusement is that the Resolution allows for other documents to be included at public request:

4. Any person, group, or organization that wishes to post any other historical documents at any schools, shall notify the Superintendent of the Giles County Schools in the same manner as is outlined herein above. Each request must be made in writing and signed by the person, individual, or group that wishes to place any historical document in the school. They shall attach a copy of the document or documents the person wishes to place in each school and shall cite the particular historical significance and importance of said documents. The Superintendent shall present the petition to the Giles County School Board. If the Giles County Board approves the same, a copy of each such historical document shall be added to the historical document display at the schools, at the expense of the person or organization requesting the additional historical document display.

Peppering the school board with requests for inclusion of historical documents the good plain folks of Giles County might not have contemplated, such as, say, the opening of Scriptural and Statistical Views in Favor of Slavery, by Thornton Stringfellow, D.D., which certainly had great effect on our history leading up to the Civil War, should be interesting. Stringfellow said:

I propose, therefore, to examine the sacred volume briefly, and if I am not greatly mistaken, I shall be able to make it appear that the institution of slavery has received, in the first place,

1st. The sanction of the Almighty in the Patriarchal age.

2d. That it was incorporated into the only National Constitution which ever emanated from God.

3d. That its legality was recognized, and its relative duties regulated, by Jesus Christ in his kingdom; and

4th. That it is full of mercy.

Certainly, that's a document of special historical significance that bears on the idea of equal justice under law as it has developed over time in America.

Many other such documents might be suggested and the ones the school board approves -- or not -- might be powerful evidence for -- or against -- its sincerity in creating a truly historical display.

But, of course, the real problem for the school board is the people of Giles County. Besides the local church busing in a hoard of supporters, wearing "Ten Commandment" T-shirts (no "Bill of Rights" or "Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom" T-shirts), the "Keep the Ten Commandments" bumper stickers and the prayers in the halls and meeting room before the meeting, there was the statement in the minutes by the Reverend Shaun Wilburn:

There have been folks that have made comments in regard to not posting the historical documents for fear of perhaps legal action. I appreciate their opinion, but I’m also reminded that without a heritage, every generation starts anew and afresh. We are basically a Christian nation. Proper education teaches that a nation must teach its heritage. ... [O]ur forefathers understood that God was doing something unique in establishing this great country called America ... In regards to avoiding the potential legal fight, if this was a playground scuffle, we would all try to avoid it at all cost, but the fight is bigger than us. We know that this fight has been brought to us by people that don’t even know us. We know that there are those that will participate that want to remain unnamed and don’t want us to know who they even are. There are those who want to deny our heritage and rewrite our history and even as is posted on the national motto on the bulletin board of this building In God We Trust and One Nation under god and all these things that we look at, there are a group of people that want us to pass on a godless heritage. ... Therefore, we understand that’s it’s not merely a scuffle, but a war of perhaps many battles ahead ... For far too long, we have allowed a vocal minority that has yielded [sic] undo [sic] sway in our land and I confess that much to our shame ... June 7th will be the day that we will draw the line in the sand and figure out where we all stand. ... I know that there are some things that you cannot say in a public venue. Our lord taught us that we are to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. That means don’t tell everything you know and I understand that as well.

I can't imagine a clearer statement of the motives of those pushing for this "historical display" or the basic and widely recognized dishonesty of it as a mere ploy to evade the consequences of violating the Constitution.

What it says about the "morality" that religion instills in believers is another matter.
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The Giles County (Virginia) School Board has, for now, pulled back from the brink. But they may just be circling back around for a better run up to the edge of the cliff.

In a special meeting of the board on February 22, 2011, it reversed (yet again!) it decision on the official displays of the 10 Commandments in its schools.

But things get murky from there.

The board is being advised by Liberty Counsel, the legal arm of the late Jerry Fallwell's Moral Majority, led by Matt Staver:

Liberty Counsel, a Florida-based religious freedom group, had advised Superintendent Terry Arbogast that the school district "would lose" if hit with a threatened lawsuit by the Freedom From Religion Foundation and the ACLU, according to minutes released Wednesday of a Tuesday special school board meeting. ...

Liberty Counsel said it would not provide free legal representation to the school district if the posters stayed up and drew a lawsuit, the minutes said.

However:

The minutes were revised less than two hours later to remove the point about losing in court. Board secretary Amanda Tickle said in a later interview that the original minutes needed rewording but were accurate.

On the other hand:

Liberty's founder, Mathew Staver, disputed that account.

"We made it clear that we would be willing to defend the school whether they kept the current display or altered it," he said. "There are pros and cons to both strategies. We never said, 'Here's the better chance.'"

So, what's going on? Here's this lawyer's educated guess:

Staver was just handed the latest in his long string of defeats, when the Supreme Court let stand the Sixth Circuit's decision that displays of the 10 Commandments by two Kentucky counties, which had previously been found to have violated the Constitution, were still in violation even after attempts to recast the displays as "historical."

The appeals court said it found little evidence that the counties' intent in hosting the Ten Commandments displays had changed from an impermissible religious motive to a permissible secular purpose.

"It is clear that these resolutions, like the previous statements of purpose, were adopted only as a litigating position," the court said.

"Defendants have continuously sought to defend their actions and accomplish what they initially set out to do," the appeals court said.

The majority judges said the officials' overall purpose was still the unconstitutional use of government property and resources to spread a religious message.

Basically, as soon as the board minutes went up, there were frantic calls from Liberty Counsel saying "ixnay on the ruthtay." If you say that you know you'd lose in court and then put the Commandments back up again as part of some allegedly "historical" display, you're admitting that your intent is just a litigation ploy.

Once again, a fine example of the morals that religion instills in people.

Meanwhile:

... residents are preparing to buy billboards and paint tractor-trailers with the words, "We support the Ten Commandments in our schools.

Which, of course, is their absolute right under that same First Amendment that they just can't quite get the hang of ... as long as they don't try to use taxpayer money for those billboards and trucks.

And:

Scores of students have placed the commandments on their lockers at Giles High School, according to Buckland, who saw them on a recent visit.

Which is also their right ... though you do have to wonder what the reaction would be if some enterprising student was to start to display some of the juicer bits of the Song of Solomon on his or her locker.
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The Giles County (Virginia) School Board is about to "pull a Dover."

Rob Boston of Americans United for Separation of Church and State is at its blog, The Wall of Separation, pointing out that the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia and the Freedom From Religion Foundation have warned the district that they have plaintiffs lined up and are prepared to sue over the board's insistence on posting the 10 Commandments in all the district's schools.

The Washington Post's Higher Education column has a history of the brewing fracas:

The Associated Press is reporting that the school board took its action despite the advice of its own attorney that Christian displays represent unconstitutional government endorsement of religion.

Curious, I went looking for information and found what appears to be the official minutes of the school board meeting of January 20, 2011.

With the caveat that the minutes are not a transcript and some of the ideas of the proponents of the Commandment may have been garbled, it is fascinating nonetheless.

There is the usual "Christian Nation" bafflegab. The US is one nation under God (which comes from the Pledge of Allegiance, not any founding document, and only as it was amended in the 1950s) that just happens to be their God. One thing I was looking for but could not find is just which 10 Commandments they put up ... the Jewish, Orthodox, Roman Catholic/Lutheran or Anglican, et al?

And it is the children's God given right to have the state inveigle them with religious beliefs so their parents don't have to be bothered. But it's apparently working because some of the students had a letter read to the board claiming:

Because, you see, it's the religious freedom of the majority to have the government make people who don't believe in gods or who believe in the "wrong" God feel like outsiders and second-class citizens. It is also the majority's right to keep the children in public schools ignorant of American history ... at least that is what they've obviously done in Giles County.

Then there was Eric Gentry, who stated he "grew up with prayer still in schools ... still had paddling, which I still think should be done ... [w]e turned out all right" but then went on to say:

Now, dollars to donuts, when Mr. Gentry took his oath of office, he swore, probably on a Bible, to uphold the Constitution of the United States. Apparently, all those prayers and paddlings didn't make him moral enough to fulfill his oath.

But this is the killer:

So what the school board and the parents want their children to know is that the laws in this country apply unless you don't like them and, if so, you can safely ignore them as long as somebody else is going to pay the consequences.

Putting up the 10 Commandments is supposed to instill morals in the children. The adults of Giles County pretty much disprove that hypothesis.
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