Thursday, February 25, 1999

School board will fight for Ten Commandments

---

BY CHRISTINE WOLFF
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Monuments stand at high school entrances. (Tony Jones photo) | ZOOM |

        WEST UNION, Ohio — The Adams County/Ohio Valley school board apparently will fight a legal challenge to Ten Commandments monuments erected at its four high schools.

        C. Bronston McCord III, a Cincinnati lawyer representing the board, said Wednesday evening he would file a response next week to a federal lawsuit brought by Adams County resident Berry Baker.

        The response will be “to answer allegations in the complaint,” Mr. McCord said. “You can draw conclusions from that.”

        The lawsuit was filed Feb. 9 by an American Civil Liberties Union attorney on behalf of Mr. Baker, who wants the monuments declared unconstitutional and removed from school property.

        Neither Mr. McCord, board members, nor superintendent Albert Porter would comment further. The board and Mr. McCord met for 2¹/₂ hours Wednesday in private executive session. About 10 opponents of the lawsuit waited inside the administration building for the private session to end.

        If the board did not respond to the complaint, U.S. District Judge Herman J. Weber could have reached a default judgment and ordered the monuments removed.

        The monuments, paid for by the Adams County Ministerial Association, were set at the school entrances when the buildings were dedicated in fall 1997 in the towns of Peebles, Seaman, West Union and Manchester.

        The vague remarks by Mr. McCord disappointed the Rev. Tom Claibourne, a Winchester minister and a member of the newly formed Adams County for the Ten Commandments committee.

        “I wish they would tell us more,” said Mr. Claibourne, who had waited at the administration building for the private session to end.

        “It sounds like they possibly are going to fight it, which is my hope. (Mr. McCord) was very vague and board members are not allowed to comment.”

        Sara Meyer, a parent from neighboring Brown County who also waited for the board

        Wednesday, said she was “encouraged that they are not just sitting back. I think they are taking it very seriously. It's a long fight.”

        The Rev. Kenneth Johnson, with Seaman United Methodist Church and a member of the ministerial association that put up the monuments, also waited for the school board Wednesday. He brought papers containing 500 signatures in support of keeping the monuments on school property. That brings the total collected by the committee to about 7,500, he said.

        “I always thought in the back of my mind that something like this (the ACLU challenge) could happen ” the Rev. Johnson said. “(The Ten Com mandments) just seems like a universal moral code to me.”

        Support for the monuments has been overwhelming in this rural community, two hours east of Cincinnati. Monday night, a crowd of 1,500 packed the West Union High School gymnasium to urge the board to fight the lawsuit.

        The Rev. Claibourne said the Ten Commandments committee has raised about $9,000 since the suit was filed.

        Officials with the American Family Association's Center for Law and Policy in Tupelo, Miss., have told the school board they will defend the case for free.

Youngsters a tad fuzzy on their thou-shalts

---

Rename Sabin? His wife hopes no
Dr. Sabin gave his name; he did not sell it
Indiana man arrested in church fires
Fire door saved church, marked suspect
School board vows to fight for Ten Commandments
Youngsters a tad fuzzy on their thou-shalts
Riverfront should be fun, people tell planning group
HAVE AN IDEA?
Convention center expansion has critic
Minister's spouse accuses ex-wife of pushing allegations
Passerby saves sinking motorist
State probe of gas explosion says CG&E violated regulations
Strong-mayor plan still one vote shy of making ballot
Bride, er, moose is wearing white
Bus drivers to return today
Crazy to be Cowboys
Hill gets record haul of Grammys
Grammy winners
Pilarczyk: Faith needs practice to stay vital
Convention center's unsung hero
Abandoned baby's mom faces more mental tests
Berry wrote he found peace
Biblical group shares its plans
Business aims to help schools as area grows
DNA clears dead man in killing
Fire at Scout camp considered suspect
Florence says 'no' to new hotel
Group adopts ship named for MU grad
Husband remains jailed in attack on wife
Lower profile pleases Boehner
Man found with teen faces court
Man who allegedly corrupted girl, 16, in jail
Parents, students back charter school
Portman's red-tape-cutting act OK'd
80-plus railroad track crossers cited
Senator joins push for safety wall
'Thunder' to hit Broadway
TRISTATE DIGEST
Warren reduces welfare cost 87%
West Chester concept OK'd