Lawyer sues to keep courtroom quote

By: DAVE DOWNEY - Staff Writer | Thursday, September 30, 2004 10:19 PM PDT ∞

A Southwest County attorney filed suit Thursday to thwart a plan to slide a block of mahogany wood over a controversial quote engraved on a courtroom wall in the historic, century-old downtown Riverside courthouse, at the urging of a civil rights group.

The quote in question is from President Theodore Roosevelt, whose words, "The true Christian is the true citizen," are spread in large gold, block letters across the top of the wall in Department 8, just below the ceiling.

In response to a July letter from the Pacific Southwest office of the Anti-Defamation League, county spokesman Ray Smith said plans are in the works to cover the former president's words while court is in session.

"It will be a piece of mahogany that can slide in and out," Smith said.

But the 10-page filing in Riverside County Superior Court on Thursday by attorney Richard Ackerman of The Pro-Family Law Center in Temecula is meant to pre-empt the county's plan to address the league's assertion that the quote doesn't belong in the courtroom, that it violates the doctrine of separation of church and state.

The suit lists the county, Presiding Superior Court Judge Douglas Miller and the Anti-Defamation League as defendants.

Ackerman, a Murrieta resident, says he is a practicing Christian.

"I'm curious as to why the Roosevelt quote is the only one that offends anyone," Ackerman said, saying the courthouse has numerous other quotes, some of them religious. "It seems to me that if the Roosevelt quote has been able to peacefully coexist with all of these other quotes for several decades, why are we suddenly concerned about it now?"

The suit states that covering up the Roosevelt quote would violate county and Riverside city codes that prohibit the altering of historic sites. The courthouse, built in 1903 and opened in 1904, is a historic landmark. The quote and others were inscribed in the courthouse during a major 1930 addition.

The suit also charges that the Anti-Defamation League is singling out a statement because it pertains to the Christian religion.

"Even though there are specific images of Jewish religious adherents publicly placed in the Temecula branch of the courthouse, Anti-Defamation League has taken no action to remove such images," the lawsuit states. "They are only concerned about removing references to Christians."

The Anti-Defamation League could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Ackerman said Thursday afternoon that any rule concerning the display of religious symbols and quotes in a public building designed to keep church and state separate should prohibit all such displays, not just those pertaining to the Christian religion.

"There should be an all-or-nothing rule," Ackerman said. "I'm not asking for special treatment. I'm asking for equal treatment."

The suit maintains that the quote should not be covered because it is part of the history and heritage of the building.

"Taken in its context with other presidential quotes throughout the building," the suit states, "the quote simply represents one view among many that have been held throughout presidential history. The diversity of quotes throughout the courthouse reflects the diversity of the presidents and, indeed, the members of the public who visit or conduct business at the courthouse. Removal of the Roosevelt quote would take away from the diversity historically reflected in the courthouse since 1930."

Contact staff writer Dave Downey at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2616, or ddowney@californian.com.

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