Barrow Officials Vote to Continue Commandments Fight

By LOUISE CHUAssociated Press WriterWINDER, GA (AP) -- The legal battle to keep a framed copy of the Ten Commandments in the Barrow County courthouse will continue after officials agreed Monday to foot the legal costs until private funds can be raised. Barrow County commissioners called a meeting to discuss whether to drop its case against the American Civil Liberties Union, which sued the county last year claiming the marker infringes on constitutional rights to be free from government-sponsored religion. Commission Chairman Doug Garrison has said the county, which has struggled in recent months to keep its legal battle afloat, currently owes $81,000 to its attorney, Herb Titus. Officials have said they oppose dipping into county coffers to pay the legal costs. The money spent so far has all come from donations from Ten Commandment-Georgia Inc., a local fund-raising group organized by the Rev. Jodi Hice, pastor of Bethlehem First Baptist Church. During Monday's meeting, which drew more than 100 residents -- most of them Commandments supporters -- commissioners voted unanimously to lend money for the legal battle and asked Hice to pledge that the funds would be repaid within six months. "We will absolutely do everything in our power to pay this, and you can rest comfortably that it will be done," Hice told the commissioners. Last month, the group held a $50-per-plate fund-raising dinner featuring former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, who was suspended from the bench after refusing to remove a 5,300-pound granite Ten Commandments monument from the Alabama Judicial Building. Organizers said the dinner raised about $20,000, and about $10,000 of it was forwarded to the county to pay for the lawsuit. On Monday, Hice presented another $10,000 check on behalf of the group. Several residents also brought donations to the meeting. "We feel comfortable that the commitment is there to reimburse us, and we'd like to continue this fight," Garrison said. Garrison estimated that Barrow County already has spent $136,000 since the lawsuit which was filed in September 2003. Commissioners estimate the lawsuit could end up costing the county as much as $350,000. "A lot of the work already has been done. If we can go to trial in November, then we're really close," Garrison said. The ACLU sued the county on behalf of an anonymous resident after commissioners refused to take down a framed parchment copy of the Ten Commandments, which appeared in a breezeway of the courthouse in Winder, about 40 miles east of Atlanta. Commissioner Bill Brown later admitted to posting the display, donated by a local resident. The lawsuit is pending in U.S. District Court in Gainesville. Hice said his group hit a few snags early on because organizers were inexperienced with fund-raising. But he said the group has undergone some restructuring that will allow it to operate more efficiently. "Raising funds is always a challenge, but this is more than just raising funds. This goes to a cause. It comes down to the right to acknowledge God," Hice said.