Everyone shed a tear for Tim Mitchell. His dream of building a Ten Commandments monument outside the Pittsburg County Courthouse in McAlester, Oklahoma has been dashed. All because a fancy “lawyer” and other people who can “read” pointed out that such a monument would be illegal.

The McAlester News-Capital reports:

The matter came up after Mitchell requested the item be placed on the agenda for the Monday meeting of the Pittsburg County commissioners. Mitchell, of Haileyville, said he would pay for the construction himself. … [District Attorney Chuck] Sullivan told Mitchell and the county commissioners that state Constitution and reinforcing Oklahoma Supreme Court decisions prohibit placing a Ten Commandments monument on court property. “It doesn’t matter who funds it,” Sullivan said.

Mitchell said there was a workaround: He could just buy property from the county… if only they would sell it to him! Would that be an option?

They shut him down rather quickly.

When Mitchell asked Sullivan about some possible alternatives, or how to go about buying a piece of property from the county on which a Ten Commandments monument could be placed, the district attorney said he could not give him legal advice and suggested he get advice from an attorney.

That’s a polite way of saying, “Go do your homework since you’re clearly talking out of your ass. We’re not messing around here.”

Why did Mitchell want to do this, anyway? He told a reporter, “I was told by God to do it two years ago… He’s really telling me to do it now.”

Given how much controversy a similar monument caused when placed outside the State Capitol — it was eventually forced down by the State Supreme Court and a vote on changing the law to accommodate such a monument was shot down by voters — it’s clear the responsible leaders in Pittsburg don’t want to be dragged into a legal battle they know they’ll lose. The taxpayers own them a debt of gratitude since not all elected officials are willing to stand up to Christian overreach.

(Image via Shutterstock. Thanks to Brian for the link)

