Cheyenne City Council Prepares for Rev. Fred Phelps' Anti-gay Monument

CHEYENNE - City officials said Friday they have talked about what to do if a controversial pastor wants to put up an anti-gay monument on public property here.

The Rev. Fred Phelps and his Topeka, Kan.-based Westboro Baptist Church made clear this week their intention to erect such monuments in Casper; Rupert, Idaho; and in cities nationwide where the Ten Commandments are displayed or groups want to display them on public property.

Phelps' monument is "dedicated to Matthew Shepard's entry into Hell," according to the church's Web site.

Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming student, was killed in 1998. Casper was his hometown.

Phelps' monument says "Matthew Shepard Entered Hell Oct. 12, 1998 at age 21 In Defiance of God's Warning: 'Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind; it is an abomination' Leviticus 18:22."

In a letter to officials in Minidoka County, Idaho, where Rupert is located, Phelps wrote that he wants to buy a 3-foot-by-4-foot section of courthouse lawn to put up a monument identical to the one he wants to put up in Casper.

He made that request because the local chapter of the American Legion wants to buy courthouse property to put up a Ten Commandments monument.

The Casper City Council voted Tuesday to reject Phelps' request and to take the Ten Commandments out of its city park and place it in a new city-owned monument plaza near town.

According to an Associated Press story last week, Phelps is advertising to buy land in Casper for the monument and may do the same if he's turned down by Minidoka County.

The Wyoming state convention of the Fraternal Order of Eagles and Auxiliary gave Cheyenne a monolith inscribed with the Ten Commandments in 1970. It stands at the north end of Lions Park.

Spiker said several city councilmen approached him separately in the last couple of weeks to talk about what to do about Phelps and his campaign.

• Giving the 4-foot-by-1-foot section of land in Lions Park, where the Ten Commandments stand, back to its donor, Union Pacific Railroad. That way the monument could remain where it is but on private property.

• Selling or giving the land to a church, ministerial association or individual. Spiker said a few residents already have called and told him they were willing to buy the monument and display it on their own property.

• Following the example of other cities, such as Fort Collins, Colo., that created a "cornerstone of law" area where displays such as the Declaration of Independence, Magna Carta, United States Constitution and Ten Commandments can stand.

It's not likely messages such as Phelps' would fall under the category of a "cornerstone of law," said city attorney Mike Basom.

Phelps argues the First Amendment to the United States Constitution gives him the right to put up his monuments on public property, but the U.S. Supreme Court so far has not ruled on that or the public display of the Ten Commandments.

Lower courts have ruled that monuments or plaques that are religious in nature are allowed on public property if they are displayed where the public is not forced to view them.

Should Phelps target Cheyenne for one of his monuments, the city also could do nothing until the U.S. Supreme Court makes a ruling.

"My goal is to be proactive so that we have the time to do the right thing," Councilman Joe Bonds said.

The city has been, and he hopes will continue to be, receptive to different ideas and groups.

"But I think Rev. Phelps is the ugly part of that diversity, and I don't think we want to go there," he said.

Councilman Tom Scherr said the Ten Commandments monument has stood in Lions Park for years, and he doubts a lot of residents were even aware of it until news of Phelps' intentions became public.

"Now the Ten Commandments will probably end up in a place where everybody sees them," he said. "Not that that's good or bad. It's just kind of ironic."

Spiker added that no matter if a person agrees or disagrees with Phelps or the issue of the Ten Commandments or other religion-based messages on public property, discussion about the issues could be positive.

This is a bit out of date. Phelps was rejected by the Casper City Council. Now he's decided to pick on Minidoka County, Idaho.

Phelps wants monuments across the land

By BRENDAN BURKE Star-Tribune staff writer

Rev. Fred Phelps of the anti-homosexual Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., on Wednesday announced plans to place monuments denouncing slain University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard in cities and towns around the nation.

The monument, which proclaims that Shepard, who was gay, is in hell, will be placed in cities that have Ten Commandments monuments on display in publicly owned facilities.

"We are going to pock-mark this nation from sea to shining sea with this message on the monument: ... 'Matthew Shepard entered hell October the 12th, 1998, at age 21 in defiance of God's warning, 'Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind; it is abomination' -- Leviticus 18:22,'" Phelps said in a telephone interview. "That is the message this nation needs, whether it knows it or not or whether it wants it or not. And that's the message we are determined the nation is going to receive."

The announcement comes on the heels of a decision by the Casper City Council to reject placement of one of Phelps' monuments on city-owned property. Casper is the first place Phelps has tried to place one of his anti-gay monoliths; Rupert, Idaho, is the second.

In a letter sent Wednesday to Minidoka County, Idaho, Phelps announced his intention to purchase "a three-foot-by-four-foot section of your courthouse lawn for erection of a six-foot granite monument" identical to the monument he wants to place in Casper, the letter said.

Phelps made this request to Minidoka County because the local chapter of the American Legion wants to buy a piece of land on the courthouse lawn to erect a Ten Commandments monument, the letter said.

Minidoka County Clerk Duane Smith said it is unclear whether the American Legion could legally buy a piece of the courthouse property for any purpose.

"What we need to do is see what authority the county has over the property that our buildings are sitting on," Smith said. "There is some question if it is not used by the county for county purposes, the deed reverts back to the city. We are not sure we have the proper ownership to allow it even if we wanted to."

The issue of whether to allow Phelps to buy a portion of the courthouse property cannot be addressed until the county finds out if it can legally sell courthouse property, Smith said.

However, the possibility of someone like Phelps wanting to put up a monument espousing unpopular views was brought up Monday at the Minidoka County Commission meeting where the American Legion members made their proposal, he added.

If it is possible for the county to sell a small portion of courthouse property, the sale would be conducted as an auction in accordance with Idaho law, Smith said.

Phelps' work to place his anti-Shepard monuments around the nation suffered a setback Tuesday when the Casper City Council unanimously voted to reject his request to place one of his monoliths on city property.

"Mr. Phelps, you are not welcome" in Casper, said Councilman Paul Bertoglio before the vote. "Under no circumstances will your monument be allowed to be placed on city property."

The council on Tuesday also approved a plan to remove the city's Ten Commandments monument from City Park and place the Decalogue in a new city-owned monument plaza on the southeast corner of Beech and Second streets.

By keeping the display of the Ten Commandments on public property and simultaneously disallowing the display of his monument, Phelps, a disbarred lawyer, contends the City Council has taken actions that are in violation of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

"They made a law that we can't have our religious message alongside other religious messages," Phelps said. "One thing that is relatively immutable in the opinions of the Supreme Court over the decades is that government has no business deciding who is right about religion and who is wrong about religion. I don't see how you guys could be so doggone dumb as not to see that.

"Just carrying on like it is some neutral thing ... that's baloney, that's a patent satanic lie. They did that so we cannot preach our message because they don't believe in our religious message," he said.

Phelps added that he has not made a decision on pursing litigation against the city to force it to allow his monument on public property, he said.

The Freedom of Religion Foundation of Madison, Wis., the group that first requested Casper remove the Ten Commandments from City Park, has also not made a decision regarding litigation against the city, Dan Barker, of the foundation, said Wednesday. But the group does not approve of the plan to move the Decalogue to a historic plaza, he added.

"We do like to sue. And we do sue on things like this," Barker said. "And there is a real good chance we would if the city wants to maintain religion on public property."

One factor in determining whether the Freedom From Religion Foundation will pursue litigation is if the foundation can find a local resident who is willing to be a co-plaintiff in such a case, Barker said.

"In past cases, there have been enough local residents who have been brave enough to sign on as plaintiffs. And we are sure we will find them, we already know a few, but we would have to respect their wishes so that it really is a local issue, it's not just us coming in," Barker said. "That is the only way to do it really because they have standing, we are sitting in another state here, but they have the standing."

If either the Freedom From Religion Foundation or the Westboro Baptist Church decide to sue the city and are successful in these cases, the city of Casper would not only have to pay for its own legal fees, but also the legal fees incurred by the plaintiffs, Barker said.

In one recent separation of church and state case won by Barker's organization in Tennessee, a school board and county had to pay plaintiff legal fees totaling $82,000, he said.

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