A federal district judge has rebuffed an attempt by the ACLU to have a nativity scene removed from an Indiana courthouse lawn.
At issue is a court case that began in 2018 when the ACLU brought a lawsuit against Fulton County, Indiana, on behalf of Roger LaMunion, who lives in the area and objects to the county’s annual nativity scene outside the courthouse. The ACLU charges the scene violates the First Amendment.
The ACLU did not request an injunction in 2018 or 2019 but requested one in recent weeks – about two years after the original lawsuit was filed. An injunction, if granted, would have ordered the nativity to be removed or to be not put up.
But U.S. District Judge Jon E. DeGuilio, in a Nov. 25 ruling, declined the ACLU request, saying the organization had dragged its feet. An injunction, he ruled, is “not possible in the timeframe the plaintiff presented in this motion.”
He added — “the plaintiff now asks the Court to not only rule on his motion for an injunction, but adjudicate the case in its entirety, in the span of a few days. That is plainly unreasonable, and neither equity nor the public interest warrant such a hasty resolution under these circumstances.”
Liberty Counsel, which is representing Fulton County, said “removing the religious symbols of the holiday display would demonstrate hostility toward religion.”
The nativity has been placed on the courthouse lawn annually since 1980.