GAINESVILLE, Ga. — Habersham County must remove displays of the Ten Commandments from the county courthouse in Clarkesville and a public swimming pool because they are unconstitutional promotion of religion by the government, a federal judge has ruled.

The displays fail a 1971 test set by the U.S. Supreme Court in that the northeast Georgia county “failed to retreat from the unambiguous religious purpose,” Senior U.S. District Judge William O’Kelley said.

“While there might be ways to constitutionally display the Ten Commandments as part of a larger, historical presentation, Habersham County has failed to do so in this case,” O’Kelley wrote in an order signed Nov. 17.

In a resolution on the display in 2000, the Habersham board of commissioners stated: “We hereby petition the God of heaven to preserve the peace which he has so graciously extended to us by our ancient acknowledgement of the Ten Commandments and beg his continued protection and alleviation of ills which come to those who forget him and his law.”

The Rev. Charles “Bo” Turner of Tallulah Falls Baptist Church of Clarkesville, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, filed suit against the displays in March 2002.

A few months later, the board of commissioners passed a resolution to accept private donations of historical legal documents, such as the Declaration of Independence, the Mayflower Compact, the Bill of Rights, the U.S. Constitution and the Magna Carta, which were placed next to the Ten Commandments displays.

The judge said the initial resolution left no question about the purpose behind the original exhibit, and the commissioners did nothing to repeal it when they added the other documents.

Turner said yesterday that he had expected O’Kelley’s ruling.

“I did not feel the other side had a position that was strong enough to stand up,” Turner said.

Family Concerns, a group that supports the commandments, scheduled a meeting today to plan its next step.

The ACLU also is suing nearby Barrow County for displaying the Ten Commandments in its courthouse. That case is not expected to come to trial for another two years.