NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Sumner County commissioners defied advice from their own lawyer by officially incorporating the phrase "Judeo-Christian values" into a prominent county document.
The change came in an update to the commission's Standing Rules and Procedures — a list of rules the commission follows during meetings.
Among the changes, the commission added a preamble, saying the commission is adopting the rules "to ensure that [the county government] is...most importantly, reflective of the Judeo-Christian values inherent in our nation's founding," among other reasons.
The vote to include the phrasing was 20 to 4.
Just minutes earlier, the county's interim law director, Ben Allen, advised the group that the change could set the county up for costly discrimination lawsuits.
"I just believe that this would be a violation of the First Amendment establishment clause," Allen told the commission. "The supreme court could change their mind on what 'violation of the establishment clause' means tomorrow. It’s very expensive to be the ones to find out if that’s the case."
Nashville Attorney David Raybin says including language about Judeo-Christian values in the commission's rules preamble is a clear violation of the first amendment's ban against the government endorsing religion, and that it would be a "slam dunk" case in court.
"It's so transparent, its obvious a court would have no problem finding this is a violation of the First Amendment," Raybin said.
But some of the commissioners pressed on, arguing the statement reflected history, not an endorsed religion.
"This is just a reference to history, this is just reference to historical fact, so I think we can answer, there is a secular purpose here," Commissioner Matthew Shoaf said.
Still, others warned against the move.
"I think we need to be very careful we don’t cross over to something that ends up, taking more of our tax citizens' dollars over the next coming years in litigation," said Commissioner Danny Sullivan.
The nonprofit group Freedom From Religion Foundation has sent the commission a letter demanding the commissioners take the religious phrasing out of the preamble.
