Arkansas county loses lawsuit challenging Nativity display

MOUNTAIN HOME, Ark. (AP) – A judge has ruled that Arkansas’ Baxter County violated the Constitution by displaying a Nativity scene on the courthouse lawn in 2014.

Federal Judge Timothy Brooks issued the ruling Thursday in a lawsuit brought by the American Humanist Association and Baxter County resident Dessa Blackthorn.

Blackthorn and the association filed the lawsuit last year saying the county should not allow a Nativity scene at the courthouse every December while denying requests for other displays on the property. The lawsuit claims County Judge Mickey Pendergrass denied requests for a “Happy Winter Solstice” banner and a menorah outside the courthouse.

Brooks ruled that Pendergrass must either stop placing any religious seasonal displays on the courthouse property or create a public forum allowing all religions and viewpoints to erect displays.