The Barrow County Board of Commissioners will talk Tuesday about whether to remove a Ten Commandments plaque from a courthouse lobby, after the Atlanta office of the American Civil Liberties Union challenged the display of the Judeo-Christian doctrine.
   A citizen hung the commandments on a wall near the main entrance to the historic courthouse about a year ago, according to Commission Chairman Eddie Elder, who declined to identify the citizen.
   ''I said I would not allow my people to put them up, but if they appeared there, I wouldn't take them down until I was forced to do so,'' Elder said.
   An ACLU attorney sent a letter to Barrow County commissioners earlier this month, claiming that the group had received complaints about the Ten Commandments plaque. The letter cited several court cases that deemed the display of the religious doctrine in government-owned buildings unconstitutional.
   ''Although you may personally disagree with the courts' rulings in this area, as public officials, I respectfully request that you abide by (judges') clear conclusions. You should be aware that we have been successful in enforcing the constitutional rights of individuals in this context,'' ACLU Attorney Maggie Garrett wrote.
   Garrett also asked that Barrow County release any letters that commissioners have received about the plaques, but there aren't any, according to county Clerk Michelle Sims.
   Garrett refused to say how many complaints the ACLU has received about the Barrow County display.
   The ACLU successfully challenged more than a dozen local governments and school systems in the 1990s for deciding to post the commandments.
   ''I knew when the Ten Commandments went up, they would be questioned one day,'' Elder said. ''I don't believe in that. I think it should stay.''
   Two years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider the constitutionality of Ten Commandments displays, leaving a lower court ruling that the displays violate constitutional rights.
   About that time, a Stephens County man took up the mission to convince local government officials in Georgia to hang the Ten Commandments in their buildings.
   He met with some success in Northeast Georgia, where a handful of counties complied, even as the ACLU challenged governments in other areas.
   Barrow County commissioners are scheduled to discuss removing the plaques at a called meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday in the commission meeting room at 233 E. Broad St.

This one strikes just outside my county..how very sad. Does it remind you of another similar story?