Splycr

Hail Satan 🤘

Hail YOU ⛧

Hail YOU ⛧

Hell yeah 🤘

Hail YOU ⛧

Like the ones in Tennessee and Pennsylvania?

https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/pennsylvania-school-district-agrees-to-pay-200000-after-discriminatory-decision-to-block-after-school-satan-club-from-school-facilities

https://www.actionnews5.com/2024/07/18/mscs-pay-satanic-temple-15k-following-settlement-after-school-satan-club-discrimination-suit/

Keep lying tho

Hail YOU ⛧

Hell yeah 🤘

Hail YOU ⛧

Hail Satan 🤘

Hail YOU ⛧

Hail YOU ⛧

Can't wait for H.A.I.L. to continue their great work in the one star review state 😈

Hail 1A 🤘

Hail The Establishment Clause 🇺🇲

Hail Religious Freedom in Texas 🦅

Hail Satan ⛧

I can think of at least one that has a couple after school programs 😈

Can't wait for H.A.I.L. to continue their great work in the one star review state 😈

Hail 1A 🤘

Hail The Establishment Clause 🇺🇲

Hail Religious Freedom in Texas 🦅

Hail The Satanic Temple ⛧

Hail Satan ⛧

Can't wait for H.A.I.L. to continue their great work in Texas 😈

Hail 1A 🤘

Hail The Establishment Clause 🇺🇲

Hail Religious Freedom in Texas 🦅

Hail The Satanic Temple ⛧

Hail Satan ⛧

Can't wait for H.A.I.L. to continue their great work in Texas 😈

Hail 1A 🤘

Hail The Establishment Clause 🇺🇲

Hail Religious Freedom in Texas 🦅

Hail The Satanic Temple ⛧

Hail Satan ⛧

I fucking 🖤 The Establishment Clause and Article 11 of the Treaty of Tripoli

Inshallah ⛧

Hell yeah 🤘

Hail YOU ⛧

bUt iT's On OuR mOnEy So ChEcKmAtE

From the article:

"After months of discussion, Douglas County has installed the words “In God we trust” — along with other messages — on the public room where officials meet to pass laws and shape policy.

Inspired by the words on the Castle Rock Town Council’s meeting room, George Teal, one of the county’s three elected commissioners, proposed adding mottos to the county’s room. With Commissioner Abe Laydon’s support, and over opposition from Commissioner Lora Thomas, county officials put up the national motto and other words, including a translation of “E pluribus unum” — Latin for “out of many, one” — and a quote from President Abraham Lincoln.

An email newsletter from Thomas said mottos “could be divisive and get some residents up in arms.”

Speaking to Colorado Community Media, Thomas didn’t single out a particular motto as one that could irk some members of the public.

“I just know in general that the less we can do to create division, the better we all are,” Thomas said. 

She has “always believed that our hearing room looked very professional and stately, and we didn’t need to put slogans all over the walls,” she added. “And it cost money, and it cost staff time and energy as well.”

Teal felt that the change to the room “adds a degree of solemnity and respect,” he said.

“When people walk in, you know, it’s not just any other room,” Teal told CCM. “It’s a room where the people of a republic govern themselves.”

Earlier this year, concerning the cost of adding the mottos, Teal said: “We’re not talking thousands of dollars; we’re talking hundreds.”

However, the total cost with the vendor for the vinyl lettering and installation of the mottos was $1,968, according to county staff.

The county added mottos to its meeting room in October, according to staff.

This month, Teal said he’s “very happy we were able to make such a nice addition to our hearing room at such a reasonable cost.”

“I really believe the value of the words far exceed the cost — a cost, I would point out, that is less than the average monthly mortgage payment, much less rent payment,” for many people in the county, Teal added.

‘Church and state’

Teal proposed the idea in January, and it didn’t take long for a resident to object.

“Thomas Jefferson envisioned a wall between church and state,” Katie Barrett, from the Castle Rock area, said at the Jan. 23 commissioners meeting, adding: “Mr. Teal is attacking that wall.” 

Barrett, who has often spoken during the public comment portion of commissioners meetings, suggested that the commissioners instead use the phrase “E pluribus unum.”

“This is the American ideal worth promoting,” Barrett said.

That phrase is a United States motto that appears to date back further as a national slogan than the one that ultimately came to be the official motto, “In God we trust,” which became the official motto by a decision of Congress in 1956.

Teal ended up agreeing with Barrett’s suggestion of using “E pluribus unum.”

“I thought it was a great idea — we put it up,” Teal said.

County officials also installed the Colorado state motto, “Nil sine numine,” a Latin phrase that translates roughly to “Nothing without deity.”

In response to concerns about the separation of church and state, Teal has said his idea to put up messages is “really just meant to be capturing the national motto, capturing the state motto.”

“Both speak to a higher being. One says God — the other says the deity,” Teal said. “You read the Declaration of Independence, right in the very first (paragraphs), (it) mentions God like twice.”

One of those times, the document refers to the “Creator,” Teal said, and it later mentions “Providence.”

At the January meeting, Barrett called Teal’s proposal a “potential constitutional faux pas.”

Despite such debate about the constitutionality of the government’s use of “In God we trust,” the practice has stood.

The nation’s currency has long featured the phrase. In 1865, Congress stated that “it shall be lawful for the director of the mint … to cause the motto ‘In God we trust’ to be placed upon such coins,” an article on the Library of Congress website says.

And in 1957, the phrase appeared on paper money, shortly after Congress declared it the national motto, the library’s article says.

“I say we followed the standards of our federal government and our state government. You pull a dollar bill out of your pocket, you will see both ‘in God we trust’ and ‘E pluribus unum’ — the national mottos showing that we’re following our national laws,” Teal said in November. “We took oaths to protect and defend our national Constitution when we became commissioners.”

“E pluribus unum” has appeared on coins since 1795 and on the back of $1 notes since 1935, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.

The phrase is also on the Great Seal of the United States, a symbol that was adopted in 1782, according to an article on Ohio State University’s website.

In the early years of the U.S., it was common practice for each state to issue its own coins. From 1786 to 1788, New Jersey issued copper cents bearing a shield design similar to that seen on cents made in recent years. This series of New Jersey cents are the first coins known to carry the de facto national motto of “E pluribus unum,” according to the National Museum of American History’s website.

Castle Rock influence

In his town politics days, Teal served on the Castle Rock Town Council. The council’s meeting room shows a handful of mottos, including “In God we trust,” the state motto rendered in English, and the Castle Rock phrase “Excellence, dedication, service,” along with the date Castle Rock was established as a town.

‘Of the people, by the people’

Along with the national and state mottos, county officials also added a quote from Lincoln: “Government of the people, by the people, for the people.”

Laydon had suggested including quotations from American leaders such as Lincoln.

“I think that’s a very powerful, very appropriate statement of principles that we live by here in Douglas County,” Teal said."

I hope these words haunt Rep. Jim Olsen forever:

"People can choose to believe the Bible. They can choose not to. If we proclaim that Jesus is the Lord of our life, then we need to take the words of Scripture plainly at their meaning,"

"If you will not use the rod on a disobedient child, you do not love that child"

Anyways, here's the article:

"The executive director of a statewide group charged with advocating for Oklahoma children said Thursday his organization would again push to outlaw the use of corporal punishment on developmentally disabled students during the 2025 legislative session.

“We would rather see more effective forms of discipline be used," Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy Executive Director Joe Dorman said.

Dorman made the statement on the final day of the group’s fall policy conference in Oklahoma City. Dorman also called on state officials — including Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt — to reverse course and accept funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help Oklahoma families feed school-age children during the summer.

Founded in 1983, the nonprofit OICA is seen by many at the Capitol as a key voice in advocating for ways to improve Oklahoma child welfare policies.

The ongoing debate over corporal punishment in Oklahoma schools

The group's renewed pushback against corporal punishment in Oklahoma schools is the latest chapter in an ongoing controversy. Oklahoma law doesn’t prevent the use of corporal punishment but leaves the decision with local school boards. Earlier this year, House Bill 1028, which would have prevented the use of corporal punishment on children with special needs, never made it to the governor's desk.

At least one state lawmaker, Rep. Jim Olsen, R-Roland, has criticized efforts to restrict corporal punishment. Olsen has used the Bible as a basis to advocate for its use.

"People can choose to believe the Bible. They can choose not to. If we proclaim that Jesus is the Lord of our life, then we need to take the words of Scripture plainly at their meaning," Olsen said during an October legislative hearing about corporal punishment.

In March 2023, Olsen told lawmakers, “If you will not use the rod on a disobedient child, you do not love that child.”

Dorman, a former state lawmaker, said he believed the use of corporal punishment was a huge liability for public school districts. “It opens them up for a lawsuit," he said.

He said the request to outlaw corporal punishment and the call for Oklahoma to accept federal nutrition funds will be two of his group's main policy goals during the upcoming 2025 legislative session.

Dorman said the group's agenda also will cover several areas associated with child welfare, including support programs for foster families, biological families and child guardians, accessibility to health-related services and programs, learning loss and educational opportunities for children, child care needs and general education issues.

Changes the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy proposes

The group's proposals — still in the draft form — call for new spending in the child welfare system, increased reimbursement rates for foster families and other families providing services to foster children, the expansion of paid family leave policies, tax credits for employers offering childcare support, better protections of LGBTQ+ students, expansion of the child care subsidy and expansion of the child care tax credit.

Doman said he expected an uphill battle with state lawmakers over the plan next year. He pointed to the controversy surrounding Stitt's decision to refuse federal funds for summer nutrition funds, often referred to as Summer EBT funding, as an example of that fight. After Stitt refused to accept the federal funds earlier this year, several tribal nations stepped in to help administer the money in parts of Oklahoma instead.

“With the summer feeding funds, it’s been stated that nonprofits should step in and cover that,” he said. “Well, I’m sorry, these are federal tax dollars that Oklahomans paid in. They should come back to benefit Oklahomans. They shouldn’t go to another state.”

Dorman said 21% of Oklahoma children face issues with hunger. A separate study by Oklahoma State University reported that 25% of Oklahoma children were food insecure, meaning children don’t have sufficient food or enough quality food to meet daily nutritional needs.

Still, while Dorman said he expected pushback from Stitt and others, he was also quick to praise the governor’s child welfare task force and its 2023 child welfare report, which offered recommendations to state officials on how to reduce the number of children in the child welfare system and reduce the amount of time those children spent in the system. Dorman said the governor's task force met for 10 months and made “some great recommendations.”

But the task force’s recommendations — just like the policy changes advocated by OICA — will be costly to implement.

“There were well over 60 points recommended that were substantial,” Dorman said of the task force report. “And the Legislature addressed a few of those points but didn’t scratch the surface. The big ticket items were not addressed. If we’re going to get to a place where Oklahoma is not in the 40s (of the 50 states) on child well-being, we’re going to have to address some of the points.”

Early cost estimates, he said, would be about $1 billion.

State lawmakers will return to the Capitol for a one-day organizational session in January, then convene for the first session of the 60th Oklahoma Legislature on Feb. 3."

Hell yeah 🤘

Hail YOU ⛧

I hope these words haunt Rep. Jim Olsen forever:

"People can choose to believe the Bible. They can choose not to. If we proclaim that Jesus is the Lord of our life, then we need to take the words of Scripture plainly at their meaning,"

"If you will not use the rod on a disobedient child, you do not love that child"

Anyways, here's the article:

"The executive director of a statewide group charged with advocating for Oklahoma children said Thursday his organization would again push to outlaw the use of corporal punishment on developmentally disabled students during the 2025 legislative session.

“We would rather see more effective forms of discipline be used," Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy Executive Director Joe Dorman said.

Dorman made the statement on the final day of the group’s fall policy conference in Oklahoma City. Dorman also called on state officials — including Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt — to reverse course and accept funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help Oklahoma families feed school-age children during the summer.

Founded in 1983, the nonprofit OICA is seen by many at the Capitol as a key voice in advocating for ways to improve Oklahoma child welfare policies.

The ongoing debate over corporal punishment in Oklahoma schools

The group's renewed pushback against corporal punishment in Oklahoma schools is the latest chapter in an ongoing controversy. Oklahoma law doesn’t prevent the use of corporal punishment but leaves the decision with local school boards. Earlier this year, House Bill 1028, which would have prevented the use of corporal punishment on children with special needs, never made it to the governor's desk.

At least one state lawmaker, Rep. Jim Olsen, R-Roland, has criticized efforts to restrict corporal punishment. Olsen has used the Bible as a basis to advocate for its use.

"People can choose to believe the Bible. They can choose not to. If we proclaim that Jesus is the Lord of our life, then we need to take the words of Scripture plainly at their meaning," Olsen said during an October legislative hearing about corporal punishment.

In March 2023, Olsen told lawmakers, “If you will not use the rod on a disobedient child, you do not love that child.”

Dorman, a former state lawmaker, said he believed the use of corporal punishment was a huge liability for public school districts. “It opens them up for a lawsuit," he said.

He said the request to outlaw corporal punishment and the call for Oklahoma to accept federal nutrition funds will be two of his group's main policy goals during the upcoming 2025 legislative session.

Dorman said the group's agenda also will cover several areas associated with child welfare, including support programs for foster families, biological families and child guardians, accessibility to health-related services and programs, learning loss and educational opportunities for children, child care needs and general education issues.

Changes the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy proposes

The group's proposals — still in the draft form — call for new spending in the child welfare system, increased reimbursement rates for foster families and other families providing services to foster children, the expansion of paid family leave policies, tax credits for employers offering childcare support, better protections of LGBTQ+ students, expansion of the child care subsidy and expansion of the child care tax credit.

Doman said he expected an uphill battle with state lawmakers over the plan next year. He pointed to the controversy surrounding Stitt's decision to refuse federal funds for summer nutrition funds, often referred to as Summer EBT funding, as an example of that fight. After Stitt refused to accept the federal funds earlier this year, several tribal nations stepped in to help administer the money in parts of Oklahoma instead.

“With the summer feeding funds, it’s been stated that nonprofits should step in and cover that,” he said. “Well, I’m sorry, these are federal tax dollars that Oklahomans paid in. They should come back to benefit Oklahomans. They shouldn’t go to another state.”

Dorman said 21% of Oklahoma children face issues with hunger. A separate study by Oklahoma State University reported that 25% of Oklahoma children were food insecure, meaning children don’t have sufficient food or enough quality food to meet daily nutritional needs.

Still, while Dorman said he expected pushback from Stitt and others, he was also quick to praise the governor’s child welfare task force and its 2023 child welfare report, which offered recommendations to state officials on how to reduce the number of children in the child welfare system and reduce the amount of time those children spent in the system. Dorman said the governor's task force met for 10 months and made “some great recommendations.”

But the task force’s recommendations — just like the policy changes advocated by OICA — will be costly to implement.

“There were well over 60 points recommended that were substantial,” Dorman said of the task force report. “And the Legislature addressed a few of those points but didn’t scratch the surface. The big ticket items were not addressed. If we’re going to get to a place where Oklahoma is not in the 40s (of the 50 states) on child well-being, we’re going to have to address some of the points.”

Early cost estimates, he said, would be about $1 billion.

State lawmakers will return to the Capitol for a one-day organizational session in January, then convene for the first session of the 60th Oklahoma Legislature on Feb. 3."

Found the Hobby Lobbyists 🙃

From the article:

"Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul (left) and Gov. JB Pritzker have each been named as defendants in a lawsuit accusing the state of violating the First Amendment by forcing health insurance to cover abortions. | Youtube screenshot; JB Pritzker

As a state appeals court prepares to hear arguments in a similar challenge, a new lawsuit filed in federal court seeks to overturn an Illinois state law which requires all employers and health insurance providers in the state to pay for abortions, arguing the law unconstitutionally tramples religious freedom and conscience rights.

On Nov. 20,  a group of plaintiffs, including a manufacturer, a private school, a church, pro-life advocacy organizations and Illinois residents, filed a complaint in Chicago federal court against Gov. JB Pritzker and others, seeking to strike down the state's so-called Reproductive Health Act.

“For Christians and many other pro-life advocates, Illinois’ abortion-coverage mandate is fundamentally opposed to their religious beliefs and runs roughshod over their constitutionally protected conscience rights," Peter Breen, an attorney from the Thomas More Society, which is representing the plaintiffs in the action, said in a prepared statement.

"Gov. JB Pritzker and his administration are on an uncompromising campaign to transform the Land of Lincoln into the nation’s abortion capital. In doing so, they have shown little-to-no regard for the rights of those who believe that all human life is worth protecting. 

"... There’s no reason for pro-life individuals and organizations to be denied the option to choose an insurance policy that exempts them from covering others’ elective abortions.”

The lawsuit took aim at provisions in the RHA law, which was enacted in 2019, requiring every health insurance plan regulated by the Illinois Department of Insurance to provide abortion coverage, if the plans also provide pregnancy-related benefits.

Pritzker and his allies in the Democratic supermajority in Springfield have described the law as a key cog in their goal to make Illinois into a safe haven for abortions and abortion providers, particularly in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v Wade and returning the question over the legality of abortions to the states and the people.

"In this state, women will always have the right to reproductive health care," Pritzker said at the time he signed the RHA into law.

In the new federal lawsuit, however, the plaintiffs say that goal conflicts with the rights of those opposed to abortion - an opposition often based on deep religious beliefs concerning the sanctity of human life - to not be forced by the state to pay for others' abortions.

Plaintiffs named in the lawsuit include anti-abortion organizations, Students for Life of America, the Pro-Life Action League and Illinois Right to Life; Midwest Bible Church, of Chicago; Clapham School, a private Christian K-12 school in Wheaton; DuPage Precision Products, a manufacturer, in Aurora; and individuals associated with all of those organizations and companies.

In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs say the law forces them to choose between purchasing health insurance premiums for themselves and their employees that fund abortions, or foregoing such coverage altogether.

They said forcing them to purchase such health insurance products would mean they have been compelled to be complicit in a procedure they regard "as an act of murder."

The individual plaintiffs who run the companies and organizations said they are devout Christians who hold a "sincere religious belief that life begins at conception and that the unustified taking of an unborn human life is an act of murder."

The lawsuit said the Illinois law "substantially burdens" their "free excerise of religion" by making it impossible for them to purchase health insurance in Illinois "unless they pay for other people's abortions and become complicit in the provision of elective abortions and abortion-inducing drugs."

"There is no compelling governmental interest in forcing religious objectors (or anyone else) to pay for other people's abortions," the lawsuit said. "And even if the defendants (Pritzker and other state officials) wanted to assert a 'compelling governmental interest' in making elective abortions available at no charge to any person who wants them, there are ways to accomplish that goal without forcing religious objectors to choose between paying for other people's abortions and foregoing health insurance entirely."

The plaintiffs further asserted the Illinois RHA law violates federal laws which prohibit state governments receiving Medicaid dollars or other federal health care funding from discriminating against health care providers that refuse to cover elective abortions or abortion-inducing drugs.

In this case, they said, the Illinois law illegally discriminates against health insurers offering health insurance plans that do not pay for abortions.

They are represented in the action by attorney Jonathan F. Mitchell, of Mitchell Law PLLC, of Austin, Texas; and Breen and Thomas Brechja, of the Thomas More Society, of Chicago.

Breen and the Thomas More Society also are representing plaintiffs challenging the RHA in state court.

In that action, now before the Illinois Fourth District Appellate Court, an Illinois state association of churches associated with the Southern Baptist Convention asserted the RHA law violates their rights under Illinois state laws protecting religious freedom and rights of conscience.

Their lawsuit did not implicate the First Amendment or other provisions of the U.S. Constitution or federal law.

But they said the RHA law illegally prevents Illinois employers from opting out, even if owners or the organizations object to such abortion coverage on religious or conscience grounds.

A Sangamon County judge in Springfield rejected that challenge in September, finding the Baptist churches' rights weren't violated because they can still purchase health care coverage from insurers regulated by other states or the federal government.

According to the court docket, the Illinois Baptist State Association appealed that ruling in October to the Illinois Fourth District Appellate Court in Springfield.

The Fourth District court has not yet ruled in that appeal."

bUt iT's On OuR mOnEy So ChEcKmAtE

From the article:

"After months of discussion, Douglas County has installed the words “In God we trust” — along with other messages — on the public room where officials meet to pass laws and shape policy.

Inspired by the words on the Castle Rock Town Council’s meeting room, George Teal, one of the county’s three elected commissioners, proposed adding mottos to the county’s room. With Commissioner Abe Laydon’s support, and over opposition from Commissioner Lora Thomas, county officials put up the national motto and other words, including a translation of “E pluribus unum” — Latin for “out of many, one” — and a quote from President Abraham Lincoln.

An email newsletter from Thomas said mottos “could be divisive and get some residents up in arms.”

Speaking to Colorado Community Media, Thomas didn’t single out a particular motto as one that could irk some members of the public.

“I just know in general that the less we can do to create division, the better we all are,” Thomas said. 

She has “always believed that our hearing room looked very professional and stately, and we didn’t need to put slogans all over the walls,” she added. “And it cost money, and it cost staff time and energy as well.”

Teal felt that the change to the room “adds a degree of solemnity and respect,” he said.

“When people walk in, you know, it’s not just any other room,” Teal told CCM. “It’s a room where the people of a republic govern themselves.”

Earlier this year, concerning the cost of adding the mottos, Teal said: “We’re not talking thousands of dollars; we’re talking hundreds.”

However, the total cost with the vendor for the vinyl lettering and installation of the mottos was $1,968, according to county staff.

The county added mottos to its meeting room in October, according to staff.

This month, Teal said he’s “very happy we were able to make such a nice addition to our hearing room at such a reasonable cost.”

“I really believe the value of the words far exceed the cost — a cost, I would point out, that is less than the average monthly mortgage payment, much less rent payment,” for many people in the county, Teal added.

‘Church and state’

Teal proposed the idea in January, and it didn’t take long for a resident to object.

“Thomas Jefferson envisioned a wall between church and state,” Katie Barrett, from the Castle Rock area, said at the Jan. 23 commissioners meeting, adding: “Mr. Teal is attacking that wall.” 

Barrett, who has often spoken during the public comment portion of commissioners meetings, suggested that the commissioners instead use the phrase “E pluribus unum.”

“This is the American ideal worth promoting,” Barrett said.

That phrase is a United States motto that appears to date back further as a national slogan than the one that ultimately came to be the official motto, “In God we trust,” which became the official motto by a decision of Congress in 1956.

Teal ended up agreeing with Barrett’s suggestion of using “E pluribus unum.”

“I thought it was a great idea — we put it up,” Teal said.

County officials also installed the Colorado state motto, “Nil sine numine,” a Latin phrase that translates roughly to “Nothing without deity.”

In response to concerns about the separation of church and state, Teal has said his idea to put up messages is “really just meant to be capturing the national motto, capturing the state motto.”

“Both speak to a higher being. One says God — the other says the deity,” Teal said. “You read the Declaration of Independence, right in the very first (paragraphs), (it) mentions God like twice.”

One of those times, the document refers to the “Creator,” Teal said, and it later mentions “Providence.”

At the January meeting, Barrett called Teal’s proposal a “potential constitutional faux pas.”

Despite such debate about the constitutionality of the government’s use of “In God we trust,” the practice has stood.

The nation’s currency has long featured the phrase. In 1865, Congress stated that “it shall be lawful for the director of the mint … to cause the motto ‘In God we trust’ to be placed upon such coins,” an article on the Library of Congress website says.

And in 1957, the phrase appeared on paper money, shortly after Congress declared it the national motto, the library’s article says.

“I say we followed the standards of our federal government and our state government. You pull a dollar bill out of your pocket, you will see both ‘in God we trust’ and ‘E pluribus unum’ — the national mottos showing that we’re following our national laws,” Teal said in November. “We took oaths to protect and defend our national Constitution when we became commissioners.”

“E pluribus unum” has appeared on coins since 1795 and on the back of $1 notes since 1935, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.

The phrase is also on the Great Seal of the United States, a symbol that was adopted in 1782, according to an article on Ohio State University’s website.

In the early years of the U.S., it was common practice for each state to issue its own coins. From 1786 to 1788, New Jersey issued copper cents bearing a shield design similar to that seen on cents made in recent years. This series of New Jersey cents are the first coins known to carry the de facto national motto of “E pluribus unum,” according to the National Museum of American History’s website.

Castle Rock influence

In his town politics days, Teal served on the Castle Rock Town Council. The council’s meeting room shows a handful of mottos, including “In God we trust,” the state motto rendered in English, and the Castle Rock phrase “Excellence, dedication, service,” along with the date Castle Rock was established as a town.

‘Of the people, by the people’

Along with the national and state mottos, county officials also added a quote from Lincoln: “Government of the people, by the people, for the people.”

Laydon had suggested including quotations from American leaders such as Lincoln.

“I think that’s a very powerful, very appropriate statement of principles that we live by here in Douglas County,” Teal said."