A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed against Green Bay officials for a nativity scene placed above the main entrance to City Hall last Christmas.
"I agree with the fact that we won, I'm not going to argue with that," says Annie Laurie Gaylor, Co-President of the Freedom from Religion Foundation.
Her group led the fight over a nativity. Fourteen locals joined in the suit. She says the outpouring of help and requests to be plaintiffs was "unprecendented."
The decoration was only up for two weeks, and the city had put a moratorium on similar displays. So Federal Judge William Griesbach says there was really nothing to decide. He still managed to write 23 pages about it with statements that Gaylor has issue with. Gaylor calls the decision "mean-spirited." She claims the judge uses the case to complain about groups that sue over religious displays like the Foundation and the ACLU.
The Liberty Council, which represented Green Bay for free, says the city would have won had the matter gone to trial.
The City Council's Advisory Committee will consider a policy next week to allow only secular displays on public property.
