A Washington, D.C.-based legal center is telling the Baxter County government to remove a Nativity scene from the courthouse lawn to avoid a lawsuit, arguing that the display “amounts to a monument to Christianity.”
In a letter dated Wednesday, an attorney for the American Humanist Association’s Appignani Humanist Legal Center states that the Nativity scene violates protections under the establishment clause of the First Amendment. The clause, as interpreted by the Supreme Court, demands that the government remain secular and not support a specific religion, the group wrote.
“[T]he elaborate courthouse display amounts to a monument to Christianity, and is therefore a clear violation of the Establishment Clause. We hereby demand that the county promptly remove it and provide assurances that no similar display will be erected in the future,” attorney Monica Miller wrote in the letter.
The letter was addressed to County Judge Mickey Pendergrass, Mountain Home Mayor David Osmon and Mountain Home attorney Rick Spencer.
The group states in the letter that it is writing on behalf of a county resident who contacted the center about the display in Mountain Home. The resident was not identified in the letter.
Brenda Spencer, the master of ceremonies for the county’s annual tree lighting, said her husband donated the Nativity display to the county about 20 years ago. The manger scene, also known as a creche, is displayed with a Christmas tree and Santa Claus decoration that was also provided by the family, she said.
Spencer said she thought the courthouse display complied with the law because it included secular “traditional” items with the religious decorations. She said the display is also part of a broader, community-based tree-lighting event.
“It’s a huge holiday tradition here. We’re celebrating Christmas,” she said.
The Supreme Court has previously upheld Nativity displays on private land or when the scene is presented along with nonreligious items, such as clowns and stuffed animals.
But the humanist group said in its letter that the Baxter County display was similar to one in Allegheny County, Pa., that the Supreme Court ruled was unconstitutional in 1989. In that case, the Nativity scene was inside the courthouse and “[t] he presence of Santa Claus figures and other Christmas decorations elsewhere in the courthouse did not negate the endorsement effect” of the display, Miller wrote.
St. Francis of Assisi has been credited with creating the first manger scene; since the 13th century, the concept has spread across the globe.
The display at the Baxter County Courthouse features a baby Jesus surrounded by angels, Mary and Joseph, several animals and the wise men, all on a bed of hay. A Santa Claus decoration and a Christmas tree are shown behind the Nativity display in a photo included in the letter.
There have been previous objections to creches in Arkansas.
In 2010, then-Secretary of State Charlie Daniels agreed to allow the Arkansas Society of Freethinkers to construct a display near the Nativity scene on the Capitol grounds. The group argued in a lawsuit that Daniels’ original refusal to let it set up a Box of Knowledge was a violation of its First Amendment rights.
The 8-foot-tall box is now a wintry regular on the south side of the Capitol grounds.
Pendergrass said in an interview that he had not received legal advice on the letter but that he thought the county display complied with the law. He said there have been previous challenges to the Nativity scene but it hasn’t changed much since the 1990s.
The county judge said the display would likely be taken down this weekend because the holiday season had passed, but he hasn’t decided how to respond to the group’s letter.
David Niose, the legal director for the American Humanist Association, said the group wanted to “get it on the record” that a complaint had been made about the display, even if it would be taken down soon anyway. He said it would continue to be an issue because there “will always be next year.”
“We want the county to be aware this year that there’s a problem with it,” Niose said.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 01/03/2014