OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Letter to Chris Davis, County Judge of Cherokee County - The Nativity Scene on the Cherokee Courthouse Grounds

Letter

Date: Dec. 4, 2014
Location: Austin, TX
Issues: Religion

Dear Judge Davis,

I have learned that a Washington D.C.-based organization called the American Humanist Association (AHA) recently sent you a letter demanding the removal of a nativity scene from the grounds of the Cherokee County Courthouse. The letter threatens to sue Cherokee County unless you "promptly remove" the nativity scene and "provide … written assurances that no similar display will be erected in the future." You have informed my office that the County intends to keep the nativity scene in place through the Christmas season, and that the display on the courthouse grounds contains a variety of features, a number of which have no religious element. I write to offer my support if the AHA follows through on its threat to sue Cherokee County.

While the Texas Attorney General's Office cannot represent Cherokee County in court, should the need arise, my office can and will file legal briefs supporting the County's authority to retain the nativity scene display on the courthouse grounds. My office has previously taken action in support of numerous Texas communities and school children who have been forced to defend their rights against similar legal attacks.

The nativity scene displayed on the grounds of the Cherokee County courthouse square. In 2011, the Freedom From Religion Foundation threatened similar litigation over the Christmas display on the grounds of the Henderson County courthouse in Athens, Texas. I notified Henderson County that my office would support its defense of the inclusion of a nativity scene within the display if the litigation threat was carried out, and I write today to make the same commitment to the people of Cherokee County.
The AHA has a long history of attacking entirely constitutional public acknowledgements of our Nation's religious heritage, and my office is prepared to offer support to Cherokee County if the AHA follows through on its threatened lawsuit.


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