Religious freedom. That no religion shall be established by law; that no preference shall be given by law to any religious sect, society, denomination, or mode of worship; that no one shall be compelled by law to attend any place of worship; nor to pay any tithes, taxes, or other rate for building or repairing any place of worship, or for maintaining any minister or ministry; that no religious test shall be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under this state; and that the civil rights, privileges, and capacities of any citizen shall not be in any manner affected by his religious principles.
How were the Ten Commandments given preference by law? Were the citizens of Alabama forcibly made to stop in the rotunda; read and reflect on them? Or could they just walk by the display, even making snide remarks if they chose to?
The whole idea that the Ten Commandments aren't law so they shouldn't be displayed is nothing but a straw man argument. Nobody ever even tried to enforce the Commandments as law, the left just can't stand to even look at the commandments because they are convicted by them.
If a judge says that he thinks his law books are a proper superset of the 10 commandments, or if people think that's what he means, then people can start arguing that's what he's going to do.
That's the nature of our adversarial system of justice. People claimed he was making those inferences, and they asked for the symbol of his inference be removed.
I personally don't mind the display at all. I only mind what he said about it. Did what he say have any legal bearing on any case? Not really, but he couldn't defend himself when citizens of the State of Alabama argued that they felt that he were indicating such.