Recently, Portsmouth, Virginia, Sheriff Bill Watson had a Nativity scene and a menorah displayed in the foyer of the Sheriff's office at the county courthouse.

In an interview with a local television station, Watson had said that even though the decorations weren't politically correct, it would take a court order to get him to remove the Christian and Jewish decorations.

On the morning of Friday, December 5, Portsmouth’s circuit judges met and decided to asked Watson to remove the religious decorations.  That afternoon, Chief Judge Johnny Morrison went to Watson's office and told him to take down the decorations, saying that the judges were prepared to do whatever was necessary to force Watson's hand.

"If that's what it takes, if the sheriff says he needs an order, we will enter an order," Morrison said.

But Watson yielded.  By Friday afternoon, he agreed to remove the decorations.  "He said, 'No problem,'" Morrison said.  "He's going to remove it.  It's always nice to be able to communicate instead of having to order somebody to do something."

The city owns the courthouse but the chief judge is responsible for overseeing the sheriff's holiday decorations, according to Dennis Bagley, director of Portsmouth's General Services Department.

"We keep everything secular just because it's the right thing to do," Bagley said.

Photo Credits: Wikimedia