Residents in a rural northwestern Florida county came out in protest on Tuesday after a federal judge ordered that the 10 Commandments prominently displayed on a monument in front of their courthouse be removed.
Senior District Judge Maurice Paul told Dixie county officials they'd have until the 14th of August to take the monument somewhere else. The ruling was in response to a lawsuit that the Florida American Civil Liberties Union filed in 2007.
The ACLU argued that the location of the 10 Commandments violated separation of church and state as defined in the First Amendment, specifically a clause preventing the government from endorsing a religious message.
Outraged citizens argued that the monument had been there for a long time and was a part of the heritage of America and it's important to the county's history and future. They said in all the time it's been there, they've never heard anyone say they were offended by the monument's location or message.
One citizen, Richard Elton, said simply "If you don't like it, don't look at it. Go in the back door."