An empty frame hangs on the wall of the Grayson County Courthouse after Owensboro District Court Judge Joseph McKinley delivered a temporary injunction, ordering the Ten Commandments taken down until a higher court rules on a similar case in three Eastern Kentucky Counties.

In response to McKinley’s May ruling, several Grayson County residents took turns holding the embattled documents in the hallway of the courthouse where they had previously hung. Chester Shartzer, one of those holding the large, framed copy of the Ten Commandments, said he was present when the commandments were ordered taken down.

"It was an emotional day," he said. "There were several tears, including [from] Judge-Executive Gary Logsdon." Shartzer said Logsdon and a Grayson County magistrate were among several county residents who spent the day taking turns holding the ancient law code in the courthouse hallway. At the prompting of the Grayson County attorney, Shartzer replaced the empty Ten Commandments frame back on the courthouse wall near the other historical documents. "That empty frame says a lot," he said.

Shartzer and Judy Webb Sipes, a Grayson County attorney, head up Kentucky Light of the World, an organization that supports the posting of the Ten Commandments in public buildings. The group’s second rally is planned for July 6 at 5pm at Grayson County Middle School where they hope to raise both funds and awareness to support Ten Commandment legal battles. "This is our national heritage," Sipes said. "We must commit to bear any burden and pay any price to assure [our freedom].

Grayson County joins six other Kentucky counties, Rowan, Mercer, Garrard, Harlan, Pulaski and McCreary who are being sued by the American Civil Liberties Union for posting historical displays that include the commandments. The latter three are Eastern Kentucky counties who lost their Federal District Court case and are now appealing to the Sixth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals.

The road to a definitive decision on whether the commandments can stay in public buildings is a long and rocky one. First, as with Grayson County, the case goes to a Federal District Court. There are several regional district courts in each of the two Federal District Court jurisdictions—Eastern Kentucky and Western Kentucky. From there cases may be appealed to the Sixth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals covering Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio and Michigan, which is where the case involving the Eastern Kentucky counties has been filed.

The last line of appeal from the Sixth Circuit is to the U. S. Supreme Court, which earlier this year refused to hear a case involving the Ten Commandments. It was the second such refusal by the high court within a year regarding the fate of the commandments in or around public buildings. The high court’s actions let stand a confusing array of lower court decisions throughout the country, some allowing, and some prohibiting the documents to be posted.

Erik Stanley, an attorney for Liberty Counsel, a civil liberties education and legal defense organization, represents the three Eastern Kentucky counties in their pending Sixth Circuit case. "We view this as a fight for our history and heritage. What the ACLU is doing is really engaging in historical revisionism," he said. Chances are good for winning the Sixth Circuit case, Stanley said, since this court recently upheld the constitutionality of Ohio’s state motto: "With God all things are possible." "We’re going to argue the same reasoning," Stanley said.

As for Shartzer, his passion for the Ten Commandments continues with or without a favorable outcome from the court cases. Following the order for temporary removal of the Ten Commandments, Shartzer and his wife visited nearby businesses, asking whether they would be interested in displaying copies of the commandments. "We have close to 30 businesses within hollering distance of the courthouse that want to display the Ten Commandments," Shartzer said. "Even if the Ten Commandments don’t get to go up in the courthouse, my, what a mark this is having in our community!"