A motion to display the Ten Commandments in the Rapides Parish Courthouse passed out of committee by an 8-1 margin at the jury's committee meetings.
"I have about eight months left on this jury, and I want to be able to tell my grandkids I took a stand and got the Ten Commandments on the wall of the courthouse," said District C Juror Jamie Floyd, who sponsored the motion along with District A Juror John "Buck" Lincecum.
"If that's all I get done in these four years, that's enough for me and my family," Floyd said.
Jury legal counsel Tom Wells warned that there could be legal consequences to displaying a religious message in a public building, particularly when using public funds to do it. The motion was amended to allow for private donations to be used to fund the display if possible after a pair of citizens at the meeting said they would be willing to contribute.
"There have been numerous court opinions that this would be inappropriate to do because of the tradition of (the separation of) church and state," Wells said. "I know this is important to a lot of people, but my general opinion would be that this is inappropriate legally."
Wells also said courtrooms are under the purvey of the presiding judges, who would have the authority to remove any such display no matter what the jury decides.
While some jury members, the most vocal being Floyd, were willing to face potential lawsuits and possible displeasure of judges, others were wary of the legal ramifications.
"I don't think any jury member up here is against this," said District F Juror Oliver "Ollie" Overton. "I just think they question the legality of it."
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