THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 22, 1995 TAG: 9512220456
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B9 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
A woman who clashed with Fairfax County officials over displaying a Nativity scene at a government building had better luck Thursday at the state Capitol.
Rita Warren was allowed to place small fiberglass figures of Joseph, Mary and Jesus inside the front entrance to the building designed by Thomas Jefferson.
``The Virginia statehouse did not let us down,'' Warren said.
She wanted to place the creche in front of the Houdon statue of George Washington in the Capitol rotunda. ``These men were not afraid to speak of Christ,'' she said, gesturing toward the life-size marble likeness of Washington.
But the clerks of the House of Delegates and the Senate asked Warren to move the display down a corridor so it would not be in the way of tourists and choral groups scheduled for Christmas concerts in the rotunda.
Warren said the location was acceptable.
She filed suit Wednesday against the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, claiming its restrictions on the Nativity scene she erected outside the county government center violate her freedom of speech.
County officials last week ordered the creche removed because she had not obtained a permit for the display. The next day, the county granted a permit for the display under the condition that it not be left unattended.
County workers removed the creche Monday afternoon after an unidentified volunteer manning the display collapsed and was taken by ambulance to a local hospital.
In the lawsuit, Warren contends that demanding that the display be attended is a restriction of her rights to free speech and religion.
House clerk Bruce Jamerson said Warren, 68, may leave the creche unattended in the Capitol until Wednesday.
In a recent case involving the Ku Klux Klan, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that policies governing displays on government property must be applied uniformly, without regard to the content of the message.
The state attorney general's office refused to say whether that ruling and the decision to allow Warren to erect the creche opens the door to other displays that might not be as popular.
Mark Miner, spokesman for Attorney General James S. Gilmore III, said the speaker of the House oversees the Capitol. ``It would be premature to discuss the matter until we've had a chance to talk with the speaker,'' he said.
Warren said she supports the right of others to air their views, no matter how controversial, on public property.
``That's the price we pay for democracy,'' she said. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS photo
Rita Warren stands with her Nativity scene in the rotunda of the
state Capitol in Richmond on Thursday. Warren has clashed with
Fairfax County officials over displaying the figures.
by CNB