County board opposes covering of religious quote

By: DAVE DOWNEY - Staff Writer | Tuesday, October 19, 2004 11:50 PM PDT ∞

RIVERSIDE ---- County supervisors Tuesday weighed in on a dispute over a former president's religious quote in the county's historic courthouse ---- language being challenged as a violation of the separation of church and state

The board voted 5-0 to endorse the idea of leaving Theodore Roosevelt's words uncovered.

"We have historic buildings all across the United States, and there are faith-based quotes in many of those buildings," said Supervisor John Tavaglione, who brought up the matter and urged colleagues to take a stand. "I think it's absolutely ridiculous that we would even consider removing (the quote) or covering it."

The board's action instructs the county's courts not to cover the quote with a long wooded panel, as court officials had proposed doing to satisfy the concerns of a national civil rights group.

"It's up to us, as the landlords and the owners of this facility, to take a strong stand," Tavaglione said, referring to the fact that the courthouse in Riverside is a county government building.

Supervisor Marion Ashley said it also was important to take a stand to clear up confusion about who was behind the plan to cover the language, and to make clear to the public that the county's governing board would not allow it to happen, barring a court order.

At the same time, supervisors acknowledged their vote was more symbolic than substantive, as the matter is now in the hands of a San Bernardino County judge selected by a state judicial agency to resolve the dispute. A hearing date has not been set.

Over the summer, the Los Angeles regional branch of the Anti-Defamation League suggested that many find offensive Roosevelt's seven words prominently displayed on the wall in a courtroom of the century-old downtown courthouse: "The true Christian is the true citizen."

A few weeks back, Riverside County court officials proposed to respond to the league's challenge by covering up the large gold letters with a long mahogany panel when court is in session. The idea was to allow officials to slide the block back out, exposing the quote, during special events emphasizing the building's historical importance.

Later, Richard Ackerman, a lawyer who lives in Murrieta, sued to block the court's plan. After the entire Riverside County Superior Court bench recused itself from hearing the case, it was moved by a state agency to San Bernardino County.

The Riverside courthouse opened in 1904, and Roosevelt's words ---- the truncated, opening phrase of an 85-word quote ---- were added in a 1930 remodeling.

"For almost 80 years it stood up there without a comment, and all of the sudden it's a problem," Ackerman said, in addressing the county supervisors Tuesday. No one from the Anti-Defamation League addressed the board.

The full quote was the closing statement of an address Roosevelt made to a YMCA gathering. Both sides in the war of words agree the president did not mean to suggest only Christians were good citizens, but rather that the "true Christian" was someone not detached, but involved in his or her community.

The Anti-Defamation League, however, said the initial seven words, taken by themselves, could give the impression that people of other faiths or no faith at all are not good citizens.

The county supervisors suggested the quote was more significant than just a reflection of a former president's religious viewpoint.

"It's part of our history. It's part of our heritage," Ashley said. "We should not try to rewrite history, and I don't think the courts should either."

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

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