The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) has prevailed in federal court against Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who ordered the removal of the FFRF's winter solstice Bill of Rights Nativity from the Texas Capitol in 2015, as FFRF reports. The Texas State Capitol has an open forum for holiday displays. The FFRF applied for the space, just like everyone else, and they were given a green light. That’s why FFRF put a secular Nativity with the part of Jesus played by the Bill of Rights, flanked by Founding Fathers Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and the Statue of Liberty.

The problem was that Governor Greg Abbott ordered the whole thing to be removed on December 22, 2015. He explained his opposition in a letter to John Sneed, the Executive Director of the State Preservation Board: “First, far from promoting morals and the general welfare, the exhibit deliberately mocks Christians and Christianity… Second, the exhibit does not educate. According to the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s application, the purpose of the exhibit is ‘to educate the public about the religious and nonreligious diversity within the State.’”

“To the contrary, the exhibit promotes ignorance and falsehood insofar as it suggests that George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson worshipped (or would worship) the Bill of Rights in the place of Jesus,” Abbott added. He gave a passage from George Washington’s prayer journal, which wasn’t even written by George Washington, to illustrate his conclusion.

The FFRF filed a federal lawsuit against Abbott back in February of 2016: FFRF’s federal lawsuit, filed in the Western District of Texas, Austin division, charges that Abbott and the other defendants violated the free speech, equal protection and due process rights of the organization.

“Defendants have justified removal of the FFRF’s exhibit by arguing the exhibit’s satirical tone rendered it offensive to some portion of the population. That is viewpoint discrimination,” writes Sparks in a 24-page ruling. The court also held that a reasonable official in Governor Abbott’s position would have known that removing the FFRF’s display based on its viewpoint would violate the FFRF’s First Amendment rights, thus the FFRF can sue Governor Abbott in his personal capacity. “It is ‘beyond debate’ the law prohibits viewpoint discrimination in a limited public forum,” Sparks ruled.

This is a major victory of freedom of expression and opinion over censorship and discrimination.

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