City of Bloomfield, NM Owes About $700,000 to ACLU After Ten Commandments Monument Case

The city of Bloomfield, New Mexico, may turn to social media to raise money to pay legal bills resulting from litigation over a Ten Commandments monument that once sat in front of City Hall. The Farmington Daily-Times reports that because the American Civil Liberties Union successfully sued to have the monument moved elsewhere, the city must pay the ACLU’s legal fees of approximately $700,000. The city itself had free representation from a nonprofit law firm. The monument was originally erected by a group that has no connection to the city, but courts ruled that people would assume it indicated the city’s endorsement of a particular religion.