American Civ. Lib. Union of Tn v. Rutherford Cty.

• Decision Date: 21 June 2002
• Docket Number: No. 3:02-0396.,3:02-0396.
• Citation: 209 F.Supp.2d 799
• Parties: AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF TENNESSEE, (ACLU of Tennessee, Inc.), Leeann G. Anderson, Steve Dixon Cates, Joan G. Hill, Dawn Weiss Montgomery, Leon Richard Nuell, Joseph Donald Shaw, and Dale A. Tipps, Plaintiffs, v. RUTHERFORD COUNTY, TENNESSEE, and Nancy R. Allen, in her official capacity as County Executive, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Tennessee

Page 799

209 F.Supp.2d 799

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF TENNESSEE, (ACLU of Tennessee, Inc.), Leeann G. Anderson, Steve Dixon Cates, Joan G. Hill, Dawn Weiss Montgomery, Leon Richard Nuell, Joseph Donald Shaw, and Dale A. Tipps, Plaintiffs, v. RUTHERFORD COUNTY, TENNESSEE, and Nancy R. Allen, in her official capacity as County Executive, Defendants.

No. 3:02-0396.

United States District Court, M.D. Tennessee, Nashville Division.

June 21, 2002.

Susan Laurie Kay, Vanderbilt University Law School, Director of Clinical Educ., George Edward Barrett, Douglas S. Johnston, Jr., James Bryan Lewis, Barrett, Johnston & Parsley, Nashville, TN, for American Civil Liberties Union, TN Chapter, Leeann G. Anderson, Steve Dixon Cates, Joan G. Hill, Dawn Weiss Montgomery, Leon Richard Nuell, Joseph Donald Shaw, Dale A. Tipps.

Mathew D. Staver, Erik W. Stanley, Longwood, FL, Lanis L. Karnes-Loeback, Karnes Legal Services of Tennessee, P.C., Jackson, TN, for Rutherford County, Tennessee, Nancy R. Allen.

MEMORANDUM

ECHOLS, District Judge.

Presently pending before the Court is Plaintiffs' Motion for Preliminary Injunction (Docket Entry No. 2) seeking to enjoin the removal of the "Foundations of American Law and Government" display, which includes the text of the Ten Commandments, from the main floor lobby of the Rutherford County Courthouse in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Defendants have responded in opposition.¹

The Court conducted a preliminary injunction hearing at Plaintiffs' request on May 6, 2002. The Court has carefully considered the parties' contentions, examined the relevant legal authorities, and reviewed the evidence presented at the hearing. For the reasons explained herein, Plaintiffs' Motion for Preliminary Injunction will be granted.

I. PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On April 18, 2002, Plaintiffs initiated this action against Defendants under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, challenging the posting of the Ten Commandments in a display entitled "Foundations of American Law and Government" in the Rutherford County Courthouse. Plaintiffs, a civil liberties organization in Tennessee with Rutherford County members and individual Rutherford County residents, claim that posting the Ten Commandments violates their rights guaranteed by the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Specifically, Plaintiffs claim that the Ten Commandments is a religious document and Defendants' purpose in posting the document on the wall of the Courthouse is to promote religion. Further, Plaintiffs allege that adding the other historical documents within the display was merely a feeble attempt to mask the real religious intent of displaying the Ten Commandments. In addition, Plaintiffs contend that the display of the Ten Commandments serves no secular purpose and constitutes an endorsement of religion by a governmental agency. Plaintiffs ask the Court to declare the display unconstitutional, to grant Plaintiffs' application for injunctive relief, and to award Plaintiffs their costs, including reasonable attorney fees, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988.

In response, Defendants maintain that the current display of the Ten Commandments is constitutional because the document is included as part of a larger display of historical and educational documents. As a result, Defendants posit, the posting has the secular purpose of promoting education and history, does not endorse or advance any religion, and its context would not lead a reasonable observer to conclude that the government is endorsing a religion.

II. PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION STANDARD

Plaintiffs seek a preliminary injunction pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65. A preliminary injunction is an extraordinary remedy intended to preserve the status quo until the merits of a case may be resolved. A district court must consider four factors when determining whether to grant or deny a preliminary injunction:

1. the plaintiff's likelihood of success on the merits;

2. whether the plaintiff may suffer irreparable harm absent the injunction;

3. whether granting the injunction will cause substantial harm to others; and

4. the impact of an injunction upon the public interest.

Deja Vu of Nashville, Inc. v. Metro. Gov't of Nashville & Davidson County, Tenn., 274 F.3d 377, 400 (6th Cir.2001)(citing Dixie Fuel Co. v. Comm'r of Social Sec., 171 F.3d 1052, 1059-60 (6th Cir.1999)). In the First Amendment context, the likelihood of success on the merits will often be the determinative factor.² Id.

A party is not required to prove its case in full at a preliminary injunction hearing. Six Clinics Holding Corp., II v. Cafcomp Sys., Inc., 119 F.3d 393, 400 (6th Cir.1997) (citation omitted). When deciding a motion for preliminary injunction, however, the court must make findings of fact and conclusions of law, which are not binding at a trial on the merits. United States v. Owens, 54 F.3d 271, 277 (6th Cir.1995).

III. FINDINGS OF FACT

On June 17, 1999, the Rutherford County Commission ("Commission") adopted by oral vote a resolution proclaiming the Commission's support of the Ten Commandments and its commitment to defend the right to display the document. The resolution also called upon the "God of Heaven" to preserve the peace He has extended to them and to protect them from ills which come to those who ignore His Law. (Docket Entry No. 1, Ex. D). The full text of the resolution is as follows:

RESOLUTION

We, the below-signed sitting Commission of Rutherford County, in consideration of our great Biblical history of Tennessee, both in our Tennessee Constitution and devotional activities in our heritage, hereby acknowledge the importance of the Ten Commandments of Almighty God and wish to go on record in support of this Magnificent Document and state that we will defend our right to its display to the limit of our ability, against all enemies, domestic and foreign, public and private.

In the enacting of this Resolution, we hereby petition the God of Heaven to preserve the peace which He has so graciously extended to us by our ancient acknowledgement [sic] of the Ten Commandments and beg His continued protection and alleviation of ills which come to those who forget Him and His Law.

This the 17th day of June, 1999.

(Id.) Although the June 17th resolution stated the sense of the Commission to defend its right to display the Ten Commandments, apparently no effort was made to post such a document in any public building. However, when the Commission met on March 14, 2002, the subject was raised again by one of the Commissioners who referred to the Commission's prior resolution in support of defending the right to display the Ten Commandments. He equated the right to defend the display of the Ten Commandments with an endorsement of the posting of the document and urged the Commission to direct the Defendant County Executive to display the Ten Commandments at the City Courthouse. The resulting debate included a verbatim recitation of the Commission's earlier resolution on June 17th. After a lengthy discussion by the Commission members and a public comment period,³ the Commission's Steering Committee Chairman, Joe Frank Jernigan, proposed the following second resolution, which was seconded and passed:

RESOLUTION

BE IT RESOLVED by the Rutherford County Board of Commissioners that a plaque of the Ten Commandments be posted in the Courthouse.

RESOLVED this 14th day of March, 2002.

(Docket Entry No. 1, Ex. A).

After further discussion, an amendment was offered to the above resolution which provided as follows:

AMENDMENT # 1

Commissioner Trey Gooch moved, seconded by Commissioner Robert Peay, regarding posting historical documents in the Courthouse be sent back to the Steering Committee so that in addition to the Ten Commandments being posted other historical documents may be considered.

(Id.).

Commissioner Gooch stated that his purpose in proposing Amendment # 1 was to require the Steering Committee to consider other historical documents to be displayed with the Ten Commandments to ensure the constitutionality of posting the Ten Commandments. Following more discussion, however, Commissioner Gooch's motion was withdrawn, and a second amendment was made "to wait sixty days to post the Ten Commandments in the Courthouse."⁴ (Id.) This motion failed. A third amendment was then suggested by Commissioner Gooch:

AMENDMENT # 3

Commissioner Trey Gooch moved, seconded by Commissioner David Gammon, that the County Executive be required to post the Ten Commandments in the Courthouse on the thirty-fifth day and that the Steering Committee make recommendation regarding other historical documents to be displayed in the Courthouse.

(Id.). Commissioner Gooch's amendment was adopted by a 14 to 7 roll call vote. Afterwards, the original motion by Commissioner Jernigan directing that the Ten Commandments be posted in the Courthouse, as amended by Amendment # 3, passed 16 to 5.

The Commission next considered the subject of posting the Ten Commandments at its meeting on April 11, 2002. At this meeting, the Commission passed, in a 16 to 5 vote, a third resolution pertaining to the posting of the Ten Commandments. The full text of the resolution reads as follows:

RESOLUTION

It is recognized by this Commission that many documents, taken as a whole, have special historical significance to our community, our county, and our country. Some of these documents include, but are not limited to the Preamble to the Tennessee Constitution, our National Motto, our National Anthem, the Declaration of Independence, the Mayflower Compact, the Bill of rights [sic] to the United States Constitution, the Magna Carta and the Ten Commandments.

A sense of historical context, civic duty and responsibility, and the general appreciation and understanding of the law of this land are all desirable components of the education of the citizens of this country. We believe these above named documents positively contribute to the...