Taking a look
back is important. Back in 2005, County Clay was in the news
over a campaign trick by a county commissioner who decided, if
he placed a dime store copy of the Ten Commandments on the
Courthouse wall, he could rally more votes and win his
re-election bid. It didn't work.
When the sign went up, Jimmy Sams contacted the then
Prosecutor, Jeff Davis who appeared at the next meeting of the
CCC. Davis raised quite the rile when he told the elected
body, Nope, the separation of church and state rulings are
quite clear, you can't put up the Ten Commandments plaque.
With locals ready to hurl rocks at Davis who himself
wanted to get reelected, Davis made a return visit to
Commission meeting. During that visit and after checking the
wind, Davis changed his tune. For this spiel, Davis: Hold it
folks, I've checked into this, and if you blend the Ten with
other documents, then the display could be called a historical
wall which MAY past the muster of current law.
The Charleston Daily Mail, now the Gazette - Mail,
published the Associated Press article. The local Bible
thumpers went ballistic, in rage. They felt only their brand
of faith deserved to mounted on the public walls of the
Courthouse
After Commissioner Sams nailed the black plastic
signage on the wall, one guy got the ball rolling during a
public meeting. The guy, if we remember correctly, was a Jew
and told the world, the Courthouse should support all religions
and not highlight one over another... if at all.
Here's that newspaper article from July 14, 2005
Clay Panel Votes to keep Plaque
The Clay
County Commission voted unanimously before an audience of
nearly 200 to leave a plaque of the Ten Commandments on the
wall of its chamber. The plaque is one of several historical
documents -- which include the Bill of Rights -- that are on
display, said Commissioner Jimmy Sams. The display has been up
for several years. The Commandments went up first and were
followed a couple of weeks later by the other documents.
"I knew the ACLU would say something, and
we just didn't want that to happen," Sams said Wednesday. "But
it happened anyway."
County resident Jesse Sizemore has asked
the commission several times to remove the Ten Commandments,
citing the constitutional
requirement of separation of church and state. Sizemore
couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday, but another
resident opposed to the display, Andy Waddell, said he thinks
it's "scary" that the Constitution and rulings by the U.S.
Supreme Court "are second class in
Clay County."
"The issue is, will Clay County, West
Virginia, adhere to the Supreme Court and the law of the land?
That's the issue," he said. Last
October, the American Civil Liberties Union, which Waddell is
a member of, sent a letter to the commission stating that if
the plaque
was not removed, there could be legal action.
The ACLU's West Virginia executive director,
Andrew Schneider, said Wednesday that the group was still
considering a lawsuit but has not filed one. "It's
not as if we haven't decided that the Ten Commandments plaque
in the county commission room of Clay County is violating the
law. . . . We are only considering how to deal with that
violation," Schneider said. "We view litigation as
a last resort." The Supreme Court issued split
rulings last month on the legality of displaying the Ten
Commandments at public buildings -- striking down framed
copies in two Kentucky courthouses but upholding a 6-foot
granite monument on a 22-acre lot surrounding the Texas
Capitol.
The justices said Ten Commandments exhibits would
be upheld if their main purpose was to honor the nation's
legal, rather than religious, traditions, and if they didn't
promote one religious sect over another. Sams says
the Clay County display falls into the legal category. "I
don't think it's religion, it's law," he said.
But Schneider contends that the commission would
"face a heavy burden of proving that the displays do not
convey, and were not intended to convey, the religious message
that the Ten Commandments clearly represent."
"There are many different versions of the
Ten Commandments," Schneider said. "The Catholic version
differs from the Jewish version, which differs from the many
Protestant versions -- so how does one decide which version is
best? "The Ten Commandments advocate religious beliefs
that should be left to each individual. . . . People should
not be made to feel like outsiders in their own community
because they might not share the dominant religious view.
"Religious freedom is alive and well in America
precisely because government cannot tell us what to believe
and cannot favor one religion over another," Schneider said.
So many people attended Wednesday's commission
meeting that the meeting was moved from the Clay County
Courthouse to Clay County High School. All but about
five of those in attendance were in favor of leaving the
display up, Sams said.
Oh the good days!
As a follow up... Sometime shortly after the
article was printed, someone secretly took down the particle
board backed display. It's whereabouts remains a mystery to
this day.
Months later, Jimmy Sams came to the Ace Cub
Reporter and asked: Oh gee buddy, I would like to have
the sign back 'cause it's so pretty.....
AW