Posted on 09/13/2003 2:59:18 PM PDT by Liz
The Ten Commandments stone is across the street from City Hall. (Joshua Brown/Special to The Tribune) By Mark Eddington The Salt Lake Tribune
PLEASANT GROVE -- While their resolve is not set in stone, Pleasant Grove leaders are firm about their intent to keep a Ten Commandments monument on city property.
Even if Salt Lake City attorney Brian Barnard sues the Utah County city, community leaders say they would rather fight than switch locations -- provided they have legal grounds and financial backing.
"At this point, we are looking to fight," said Pleasant Grove Mayor Jim Danklef. "I think it's good to stand up and say you are not going to move [the monument] off just because someone says you have to."
Barnard, legal counsel for the Society of Separationists, has threatened legal action against Pleasant Grove unless the monument is removed from a city park at 100 North and 100 East, where it has stood ever since the Fraternal Order of Eagles gave it to the city in 1971.
City Attorney Christine Petersen says several "public-interest" law firms have offered to do pro bono work on behalf of Pleasant Grove. One of the firms, the Thomas More Law Center in Michigan, has faxed an offer to represent the city in court free of charge.
The Ann Arbor company's offer, however, would not cover any monetary damages a judge might assess if the city lost a court fight.
Petersen says Salt Lake City attorney Frank Myler, affiliated with the American Center for Law and Justice, has also offered legal assistance. The City Council has authorized legal staff to contact both organizations.
"We haven't had time to get in touch with both of them" to learn the details about the offers, Petersen said Thursday.
Neither Myler nor the Thomas More Center could be reached for comment.
Barnard, who has worked with the American Civil Liberties Union to get Decalogue -- 10 Commandments -- monuments moved from public property in seven locations, scoffs at the offers Pleasant Grove is fielding.
He noted his legal bills in Ten Commandment cases against Salt Lake City and Ogden totalled $80,000, and wonders if Pleasant Grove is willing to risk a similar amount if the proffered aid is less substantial than promised.
"If the city loses, and gets stuck with the attorney's bill . . . are those organizations going to pony up the money to pay it?" Barnard asked.
Danklef concedes that might be a problem. Still, the mayor and city administrators are heartened by the offers and by the "overwhelming support" they are receiving from Utahns and residents of other states.
The city recently received a $25 money order from the senior Sunday school of a small Baptist church in Alabama, the mayor said.
Moreover, city administrators believe their monument may fare better than the one a federal court ordered removed from a state judicial building in Alabama. Petersen said the Eagles donated Pleasant Grove's monument for secular instead of sacred reasons. Its purpose is to honor the Vietnam veterans, she said.
Barnard, however, insists the monument is a clear violation of church and state outlined in the Constitution and upheld by the courts. He asks why Decalogues need to be on public property in the first place.
"Is the meaning of the Ten Commandments enhanced because it is on government property? Does the public take it more seriously?" he asked. "God does not need the support of the Pleasant Grove government. The Ten Commandments doesn't need that support."
Pleasant Grove's monument is in an obscure location, nestled behind an antique shop and between a blue-spruce tree and a shed that served as the city's first fire station in 1906. Barnard argues Pleasant Grove should follow the example set by Provo, which voluntarily moved its Decalogue last year from city-owned Memorial Park to a much more visible spot at LDS Church-owned Tabernacle Park on the corner of Center Street and University Avenue.
Provo spokesman Michael Mower said the move, done with the consent of the Eagles and LDS Church, has worked out well.
"We were able to facilitate putting the Ten Commandments on the most prominent corner in Provo while avoiding the contention that would have surrounded an almost certain lawsuit." "America was founded on Christian ideals," she said. "If we won't stand up for God, how can we expect him to stand by us when we need him most?"
meddington@sltrib.com
© Copyright 2003, The Salt Lake Tribune. All material found on Utah OnLine is copyrighted The Salt Lake Tribune and associated news services. No material may be reproduced or reused without explicit permission from The Salt Lake Tribune.
Yup.. It sounds like you don't KNOW, but might be willing to learn........
I want to say "God bless you" for your insightful, thoughtful and intelligent comments.....so I will...."God bless you."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.