Attorney General asked to represent Haskell County over Ten Commandment lawsuit

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- State Representative Jim Newport Tuesday asked the attorney general to represent Haskell County in a lawsuit that challenges a display of the <b><a class="headlinelink" href="http://www.kotv.com/main/home/searchKOTV.asp?mainSearch=Ten

Tuesday, October 11th 2005, 5:50 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- State Representative Jim Newport Tuesday asked the attorney general to represent Haskell County in a lawsuit that challenges a display of the Ten Commandments on the courthouse lawn.

The Ponca City Republican made the request in a letter to Drew Edmondson, the state's Democratic attorney general.

A spokeswoman for Edmondson says state law puts the Haskell County district attorney in charge of representing county government. She says district attorneys can request assistance from the attorney general, but the Haskell County D-A hasn't done that in this case.

The Oklahoma chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit last week against Haskell County, demanding that a Ten Commandments monument be removed from the courthouse grounds in Stigler.