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Long absent Clay commissioner Matt Bragg showed up at
Monday's meeting where the ACLU has demanded the removal of
the Ten Commandments from the wall of the Clay
Courthouse.
Bragg spoke to the packed meeting room, indicating that
commissioner Jimmy Sams raised the plaque issue four years
ago for political gain during his bid for the office.
The Clay Communicator reported that school bus driver Greg
Legg scolded commissioner Bragg for not taking his hat off
during the opening prayer nor the Pledge of Allegiance.
Commission President Peter Triplett had refused to sign Bragg's
commission check unless he came to the courthouse following a
five month absence.
The ACLU has demanded Clay County commissioners remove a
plaque of the Ten Commandments from their chamber or face
legal action.
The meeting was covered by TV news cameras.
Terri Baur, staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of
West Virginia, sent commissioners a letter on behalf of a Clay
County resident. Several other people have also complained
about the display, said Andrew Schneider, state ACLU
director.
"The complainant is a non-Christian who feels unwelcome in a
governmental environment that endorses a particular religion and
who is offended that the County has chosen to single out and
sanction any religion," Baur said.
Commissioner Sams first said he would not take down the plaque
even if the US Supreme Court ordered it done,but he appeared
to soften his position.
Commissioners agreed to allow Joe Murray of the American
Family Association Center for Law and Policy to represent the
county if a lawsuit is filed.
Commission President Triplett said he does not think the Ten
Commandments plaque is hurting anything, but said the county
would take the display down if a court declared it illegal.
ACLUs Schneider said the United States is one of the most
diverse religious nations in the world and Americans are very
serious about their beliefs.
"In a free country, no one should feel that they are in better
standing before the government because they belong to the
so-called 'favored religion,' Also, no one should be made to feel
like an outsider on religious beliefs or lack thereof."
"I believe it's the same way people of the majority religion in Clay
County would feel if a symbol of Islam or Judaism was placed in
the county commission courtroom."
Schneider said the ACLU will represent the complainants, who
are yet anonymous.
The ACLU came to Clay County a few years ago over a case
where a school official was offering "Christian altar calls" during a
school assembly.
The U.S. Supreme Court will address similar cases in Kentucky
and Texas early next year, the first time since 1980 when the
court decided to remove the Ten Commandments from public
schools.
In other action, apparently the commission has worked a deal
with Sheriff Harald Fields to keep him on the payroll until
January. Fields had resigned two months early over not having
enough deputies. | 
