On Every Side (15 page)

“You're recognized everywhere you go,” Dick Baker told her. “No anchor of mine will be taking sides on a political issue like this one.”

His words echoed in Faith's mind as she made her way past a peaceful demonstration on the front lawn, nodding at several people who waved in her direction. She entered the courtroom and found a seat near the back. The courthouse was located just outside Bethany in a newly renovated area designated for state government buildings. Judge Randall Webster would preside, and Faith was not at all comforted by the fact. Prior to taking the position as a jurist for the state of Pennsylvania, Judge Webster had been a defense attorney who earned a reputation for getting his clients the lightest possible sentences. He was a liberal man who'd made it abundantly clear he saw no place in society for religious icons, the Ten Commandments, or any mention of God whatsoever. Faith felt certain that if it had been up to Judge Webster, the dollar bill would say, “In us we trust.” And that phi-losophy pervaded everything he said from the bench.

Faith spotted her father's partner across the courtroom and their eyes met. She smiled and discreetly pointed upward, mouthing the word, “Believe.” Joshua nodded, his eyes filled with warmth even though uncertainty controlled his face. He
returned his attention to his notes, and Faith shifted her gaze to the other side of the room.

Her breath caught in her throat as she spotted Jordan Riley He moved easily from one end of the table to the other, his chis-eled face masked in concentration, shoulders filling out his dark designer suit. She berated herself for being attracted to him.
God, help me remember he's on the wrong side.

He moved toward what looked to be a team of attorneys, and they surrounded him the way athletes do in the final moments before a game. Clearly Jordan was in control of the meeting. He spoke commands to several of the men, and one at a time they peeled away and took their seats, either at the plaintiff's table or in the first row behind it.

She looked at him, hoping he would meet her gaze, but he was too caught up in his preparation.
God's on our side, Jordan… besides, nothing will bring back your mother.

Faith saw that every seat in the courtroom was taken, but still people continued to stream in, lining two and three deep along the walls. Finally, security guards blocked the entrance and began turning people away.

Judge Webster entered the room and a hush fell over the crowd. He studied the mass of people, looked from perfectly dressed Jordan to the older Joshua and gently rapped his gavel. “Order…court is in session.” His voice was deep and gravelly and carried with it an authority that sent a shiver down Faith's spine.

Please, God, be with us…

“This court will now hear the matter of Humanity Organized and United for Responsibility versus the city of Bethany, Pennsylvania.”

Joshua watched as the judge lifted his chin and stared down the bridge of his nose. “I understand there are—” he made no
effort to hide his sarcasm— “a few people interested in the out-come of this case.” His voice boomed out from the bench. “Let's make one thing clear up front. No intimidation will take place in my courtroom. People are welcome to have an opinion.” He gestured toward the window that overlooked the courthouse greens. “They are even invited to line up twenty deep across the lawn.” He paused and glared at Joshua. “But nothing they say or do will influence the rulings I make in my courthouse now or at any other time. Is that clear?”

Joshua felt every eye in the room on him. “Yes, Your Honor, of course not.”

The judge glared at Jordan next. “That goes for you, too.”

Jordan Riley grinned at the judge as though the man were a favorite uncle. “Absolutely, Your Honor.”

Judge Webster sat back in his seat.” In that case, let's begin. We'll hear from the plaintiff first.” He motioned at the audience. “The rest of you may be seated.”

Those who had seats did as the judge directed, and Jordan took the floor. He paced slowly in front of the tables, holding his notes as though if he studied them long enough he might remember what to say. Joshua knew that wasn't the case. He'd done his research on Riley. The man's memory was one of the best in the business. The notes in his hands were merely for appearances, a device intended to give the impression that every-thing he said—from his opening argument to his closing remarks—was strictly from case law and researched material. That way he wouldn't come across as having a personal vendetta against the people of Bethany or their Jesus statue. Rather he was simply a legal servant of society, doing his best to maintain the line between church and state.

Joshua wondered if he was the only one in the room who saw through the ploy
“Your Honor, the HOUR organization has filed suit against the people of Bethany for what is clearly a violation of state law. In the center of Bethany is a park—owned and operated by the city And at the center of the park stands a ten-foot-high statue of Jesus Christ.” Jordan paused as though he might rest his case on that note alone. “We believe the statue represents a conflict between church and state and is therefore a violation of the Constitution.” He stopped pacing and stood with his legs shoulder-width apart, the folder held at his side. “The law is clear that no state govern-ment shall endorse or suggest or force any religion on its con-stituents. Clearly Jesus Christ is the universal symbol for Christianity. And since the Jesus statue stands on public property, its presence suggests a religion that is not only government-spon-sored and endorsed, but quite possibly mandated.”

Jordan shrugged his shoulders and cast an easy smile at Judge Webster. “Very simply, we want the statue removed as soon as possible.”

The judge nodded. The lines on his face had eased consider-ably. “Go on, Counsel.”

Jordan nodded and resumed his meandering pace across the front of the courtroom, his eyes on his notes once more. Joshua watched him and was caught off guard by something in the young man's eyes. His face was familiar in an eerie sort of way…

“In addition to the law—which is clearly on our side—we believe we have ample precedent to prove our point. With us today we have research from dozens of past cases, both from the state and Supreme Court level. If it pleases Your Honor, I'll give a summary of that research at this time.”

Judge Webster gestured toward Jordan in a way that was just short of rude. “Continue.”

Across the room Joshua tried to read the feeling coming from the bench. Anyone who knew the judge knew where he likely
stood on the issue of church and state. But Joshua knew the man also prided himself on not being biased. Joshua prayed that pride would work in their favor.

Jordan set his things down, on the plaintiff's table and sorted through them for a few seconds before apparently finding what he was looking for. “Here we are…” And with that, Jordan neatly and succinctly cited exactly fourteen sources that were similar in nature, cases where a nativity scene or a Christian fish symbol or a cross was eliminated from the landscape of any place even remotely public. For good measure, he included two examples where private establishments were ordered to remove their Christian symbols as well.

After talking for less than an hour, Jordan set his notes down and looked at the judge. “That's all for now, Your Honor.” A warm smile filled his face. “We are not looking to punish or in any way penalize the people of Bethany We merely want the good citizens of this country to feel free to live and work around public areas without being forced to adhere to a specific religion. In essence—” he gestured toward his team of attorneys, and again Joshua had the strange feeling he'd seen the young attorney somewhere before— “we want to preserve the rights of the people to live free from the burden of state-sponsored religion. Now and as long as this great nation might stand. Thank you, Your Honor.”

Jordan took his seat, and Joshua gathered his notes. He was certain his opponent had reams more of case precedent to sup-port the idea that religious icons and displays ought not to be left standing on public property That was fine. Joshua had prepared as well. He smiled to himself and felt a peaceful confidence come over him. God had promised to fight the battle, to go before him. Surely that meant victory, right? He stood up and headed toward the center of the floor, six feet from the judge's chair, praying for the right words.

“Your Honor, I appreciate the comments and concerns pre-sented by the plaintiff. But I disagree that this is a case of the HOUR organization looking out for the rights of the people.” He glanced at his notes and allowed a measured pause. The last thing he wanted was to appear rushed and flustered, as though he had to work to defend the city's position.

He took a steadying breath and continued. “The statue in question was given to the city of Bethany as a gift nearly a hun-dred years ago.” Joshua squared up before the bench and met the judge's eyes straight on. “If the city had received a statue of Pocahontas or Christopher Columbus or Martin Luther King Jr., certainly no one would object to having it placed at the center of the city's oldest park. Like Columbus or King, Jesus Christ is a person of great historical significance, both in our United States history as well as the history of the world. Removing the statue of Him now is, in this city's opinion, a violation of the citizens’ rights to cherish this gift, to look upon its considerable beauty and expression, to consider the historical significance of the man it represents.” He made his way to the defense table and sorted through a series of files. If his opponent could look loaded with precedent, so could he. “I'd like to share some case law supporting that opinion.”

The reality was Joshua had been able to find only two cases that even remotely upheld the idea that the Jesus statue should remain standing in Jericho Park, but he played them for all they were worth. One case involved a cross anchored on a hill that was—technically—part of the Texas state, park system. It was also, however, a landmark by which those traveling the interstate could determine how far they'd traveled and how much time remained on their journey. Ultimately it was deemed more of a landmark than a religious icon, and the courts allowed it to stand.

The other case centered on the town of Camp Verde, Arizona, and an annual Christmas parade that culminated in a float depicting a living nativity scene. The parade entry included Mary Joseph, an actual baby playing the part of Jesus, and an assort-ment of donkeys and sheep being tended along the parade route by Boy Scouts in shepherd garb. Since the parade was sponsored by the city, someone cried foul one year and filed a lawsuit requesting that the religious parade entry be excluded from the procession. After much bantering back and forth, a state court judge ruled that the parade was—in nature—organized around a Christmas theme, and that Christmas was, inherently a celebration of Jesus Christ's birth. Therefore it was within the city's legal bounds to include in its Christmas parade the nativity scene, and the float was allowed to stay, right down to the babe in swaddling clothes.

Joshua did his best to make these cases look similar to the one involving Jericho Park. He played up the fact that govern-ment groups were involved in both cases and remained intentionally vague on his comparisons that a landmark and a Christmas float were almost exactly the same thing as having a Jesus statue in the center of a public park.

But as he spoke, even Joshua could hear the gaping holes in his argument. It was one thing to have a directional landmark or a holiday-themed parade entry Joshua simply had no precedent demonstrating a city's right to maintain a religious presence on public property for no apparent reason. The landmark case was the most similar and the night before he'd decided to hammer on that one more than the other. Now as he neared the end of his remarks, that's exactly what he did.

“Your Honor, the people of Bethany use the Jesus statue as a meeting spot. They talk about it as though it were part of the town's landscape. Generations of Bethany citizens have held
annual picnics around the base of the statue and found comfort in the fact that though things change with time, the statue remains. It stands regardless.”

He set his notes down and faced the judge again. “It is our opinion that the Jesus statue is as much a landmark as the cross that stood in the publicly owned hills of Texas. We ask that you make a decision allowing it to stand. Thank you, Your Honor.”

Joshua caught Faith's weak smile as he sat down. Was his case that lacking?
Come on, God…make it happen.
He winked at Faith, turned and took his seat.

The judge looked from Joshua's table to that of the plaintiff and leaned forward. “This court will recess for ten minutes while I consider both arguments. We will meet back here at ten-fifteen at which time I will give my decision.”

Frank Furlong and several members of Bethany's city council surrounded Joshua, patting him on the back and assuring him he'd done a fantastic job. But Joshua thought their remarks seemed canned, contrived—as though they were trying to con-vince themselves of something that suddenly seemed almost impossible.

A noise began to build outside, and Joshua turned toward the window. People covered the grounds below, some of them carrying signs that read, Stay out of our park and It's HOUR statue. Many of them marched peacefully, while others formed prayer circles. Joshua watched, and the pressure he felt nearly suffocated him. He shuddered and turned back to the others. “You were right.” He looked at Frank. “At least a thousand.”

Frank and the others joined Joshua at the window, and the men watched as the group formed a single line and began marching around the lawn, singing what sounded like a hymn. Frank flipped a lock on the window frame and lifted the glass so they could hear more clearly Immediately their song became audible,
the words ringing over the voices in the courtroom, stopping con-versations and gradually causing some people to join in the song.

“Great is Thy faithfulness, oh God my Father. There is no shadow of turning with Thee. Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not… as Thou has been Thou forever will be….”