http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=18&articleid=20100727_12_0_TheAme135936Haskell County settles Ten Commandments lawsuitThe American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma and Haskell County have reached a settlement in regards to the Ten Commandments monument, said state deputy director Chuck Thornton.
Haskell County must pay the ACLU of Oklahoma $199,000, covering all costs and attorney fees, Thornton said.
"We were pleased that we were able to reach an agreement with the Haskell County commissioners," Thornton said. "The constitution has been vindicated. We believe the interest of our clients has been vindicated."
Kevin Theriot of the Alliance Defense Fund, which is representing the Haskell County commissioners, confirmed that the settlement was reached last week, but said they had no comment in regard to the settlement.
Thornton said the terms of the settlement include:
•The settlement can be paid out over a 10-year period
•The plaintiff (ACLU of Okahoma) must forego the sale of the judgement to a third party for at least 60 days
•Haskell County has the first-refusal of sale of the judgement right
•Both parties agree to execute a release of all claims upon the entry of a judgement
In March, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a federal appellate ruling that a government-sponsored Ten Commandments monument placed on Haskell County's courthouse lawn is unconstitutional and must be removed.
By rejecting an appeal by the commissioners of Haskell County and declining to review the case, the Supreme Court left undisturbed a unanimous June 2009 decision by the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals that the county commissioners advanced their personal religious beliefs by erecting the monument, according to an ACLU release.
The ACLU and the ACLU of Oklahoma filed a lawsuit challenging the display of the monument in October 2005, a little over a year after the Haskell County Board of Commissioners approved its placement on the county courthouse lawn.
The 8-foot-by-3-foot granite slab monument moved on March 17 from the Haskell County courthouse lawn to a spot about a block east onto private property belonging to American Legion Post 22.