NEWS

Satanic Temple lawsuit over Nativity scene dismissed

Kristine Guerra
kristine.guerra@indystar.com
A Nativity scene featuring life-size figurines of baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the three wise men (seen in December 2014) has been on display outside the Franklin County Courthouse every year for the past five decades.

A second legal dispute over a Nativity scene that's been on display outside an Indiana county's courthouse lawn has been dismissed.

Parties agreed to dismiss the lawsuit with the understanding that Franklin County will allow local residents and churches to erect religious and nonreligious displays outside the courthouse in Brookville, a town about 75 miles southeast of Indianapolis.

The case was settled several months after the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana sued the county for not allowing certain secular groups to erect displays outside the courthouse. A Nativity scene, featuring life-size figures of baby Jesus, Joseph, Mary and the three wise men, has been on display outside the courthouse every year for at least the past five decades.

ACLU of Indiana filed the lawsuit on behalf of Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Wisconsin-based nonprofit, and The Satanic Temple, a group based in Massachusetts. Both groups applied for a permit to erect their displays outside the courthouse, but their applications were denied because neither organizations are local. A county ordinance allows only local residents and groups to erect displays.

Satanic Temple files suit in dispute over Brookville Nativity display

As part of the settlement, the county agreed to let nonresidents apply for a permit, but they must have a local contact, said Tom Ciesielka, spokesman for the Thomas More Society, which represented Franklin County in the lawsuit.

This is one of two lawsuits filed over the Nativity scene.

Last September, a federal judge dismissed a similar lawsuit which accused the county of violating the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution by allowing a Christian symbol on public property. That lawsuit also was filed by the ACLU of Indiana on behalf of the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

That case was dismissed because of the ordinance that allowed Franklin County residents to erect their own displays — religious or not — outside the courthouse. The ordinance was enacted a month after the lawsuit was filed.

As a result of these lawsuits, nonreligious displays — including one showing the Bill of Rights on a manger — will be seen outside the courthouse lawn until January. A Nativity scene and other religious symbols also have been erected.

Call Star reporter Kristine Guerra at (317) 444-6209. Follow her on Twitter: @kristine_guerra.

Judge tosses ACLU suit over Indiana Nativity scene

This Indiana Nativity scene will have the Bill of Rights, not baby Jesus