2004 — Mayflower Compact – Ten Commandments Monument, Haskell Co. County Court House, Stigler, OK
Following a private $2,500 fund raising drive, an 8’ granite slab monument engraved with the Ten Commandments on one side and the Mayflower Compact on the other was placed on the front lawn of the County Courthouse, with the approval of the county commissioners, on Nov. 5, 2004. The intention was to spread a religious message. Shortly after it was erected The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit saying that the monument was an intrusion of religion into government affairs. Following a 43-page ruling by a U.S. district judge that the placing of the monument did not overstep the constitutional line “demarcating government neutrality towards religion,” a federal appeals court in Denver on June 9, 2009 declared the monument unconstitutional. On Aug. 22, 2009 the federal appeals court denied the commissioners’ request to leave the monument in place until the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether to review the case.