Tennessee county sued over Ten Commandments plaque

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A northeast Tennessee man is suing his county for illegally promoting Christianity, claiming officials rejected his request to post a display on church-state separation in the same courthouse where a Ten Commandments plaque has been displayed for years.

The suit claims Johnson County commissioners in June rejected Ralph Stewart's bid to hang two posters at the Mountain City courthouse's "public forum" area, one titled "The Ten Commandments Are Not the Foundation of American Law."

A Ten Commandments plaque already hangs there as part of a display on American law history. The suit was filed Thursday for Stewart by Americans United for Separation of Church and State in U.S. District Court in Greeneville.

Johnson County attorney Bill Cockett declined comment.