City Officials Make Example of Idaho Believers Who Resist Secular Tide

When believers resisted Boise, Idaho officials who wanted to remove a Ten Commandments monument from a city park without any public hearing or citizen comment, they lost in court. City officials then persuaded the court to assess the believers $10,700 in attorney fees. When the believers were unable to pay, officials placed liens on their homes, and eventually demanded payment and moved toward foreclosure.

Donors rescue Idaho family advocates
by Charlie Butts, OneNewsNow

Donors have come to the rescue of Idaho Values Alliance in its squabble with the city.

When Boise, Idaho, officials tried to remove a Ten Commandments monument from a city park without a hearing or any citizen input, Idaho Values Alliance (IVA) president Bryan Fischer filed suit to slow the process down. "[They tried to move it] with no public input, no public hearing. We rallied hundreds of citizens in the Boise area to try to put a stop to that, including taking some legal action to try to slow the city down," Fischer explains. "The city went after me and a colleague of mine, Brandi Swindell of Generation Life."

The city won the case and moved the monument -- but then the court turned around and assessed the Alliance and Generation Life with $10,000 in attorney fees. "The city came after us for attorneys fees," Fischer adds, "got an award in the amount of $10,000 dollars against us, and recently made a move to foreclose on my house in order to collect that judgment."

After four years of silence, the city demanded payment and announced impending foreclosure on Fischer's home. There was a lien placed on Swindell's property as well, but Idaho residents who learned about the situation have raised the needed money and the judgment has been paid.

"Fortunately we had many concerned citizens in the Boise area come to our defense," the IVA president points out. "They generously made donations to a legal defense fund, and we were able to take care of that attorneys fee award by providing a check to the city of Boise for over $10,700."

Fischer says it was a scary moment because he could have lost his home in trying to stand up to the city.