Odessa American
ODESSA, Texas — Ector County Sheriff Mark Donaldson said his office has no plans to remove the “In God We Trust” decals affixed to more than 30 county-owned vehicles, a week after the sheriff of Brewster County removed crosses from his fleet.
Brewster County Commissioners on March 22 voted to ban “political, religious, commercial or personal” messages or symbols on county-owned property, a move that would prohibit the crosses on deputies’ vehicles, according to multiple news accounts from media outlets in the area. After that meeting the Alpine Avalanche reported Sheriff Ronny Dodson said he had already asked deputies to remove the crosses because of pending litigation.
Dodson was referring to a federal lawsuit filed that week by the Freedom From Religion Foundation against him arguing that the sheriff’s office was illegally advancing a religious point of view through the display of the crosses. Two local plaintiffs joined the foundation.
After the lawsuit, Dodson appealed to District Attorney Rod Ponton, who defended the move and asked for Attorney General Ken Paxton to issue an opinion on the matter, according to Marfa Public Radio. The AG said he would comment by June 20.
Gov. Greg Abbott also defended sheriff’s decision to display the crosses.
But the crosses are a different matter than the “In God We Trust” decals. Federal legislation approved in 1955 made the appearance of the phrase mandatory on all coins and paper currency of the United States, and courts would determine the motto religiously neutral.
“I don’t have crosses on mine, so that’s the difference,” Donaldson said Monday. “That’s what they were doing, was talking about religious symbols. That’s different than ‘In God We Trust’.”
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