Posted on 10/12/2004 8:48:43 AM PDT by Greek
By GINA HOLLAND
(AP) The Ten Commandments monument is pictured in the State Judicial Building in Montgomery, Ala., in a... Full Image
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WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court said Tuesday it will take up the constitutionality of Ten Commandments displays on government land and buildings, a surprise announcement that puts justices in the middle of a politically sensitive issue.
Justices have repeatedly refused to revisit issues raised by their 1980 decision that banned the posting of copies of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms.
In the meantime, lower courts have reached a hodgepodge of conflicting rulings that allow displays in some instances but not in others.
The high court will hear appeals early next year involving displays in Kentucky and Texas.
(AP) Ousted Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore is shown outside the Alabama Judicial Building... Full Image
In the Texas case, the justices will decide if a Ten Commandments monument on the state Capitol grounds is an unconstitutional attempt to establish state-sponsored religion.
A homeless man, Thomas Van Orden, lost his lawsuit to have the 6-foot tall red granite removed. The Fraternal Order of Eagles donated the monument to the state in 1961. The group gave scores of similar monuments to American towns during the 1950s and '60s, and those have been the subject of multiple court fights.
Separately, they will consider whether a lower court wrongly barred the posting of the Ten Commandments in Kentucky courthouses.
McCreary and Pulaski county officials hung framed copies of the Ten Commandments in their courthouses and later added other documents, such as the Magna Carta and Declaration of Independence, after the display was challenged.
Last week, the justices rejected an appeal from a high-profile crusader for Ten Commandment monuments, ousted Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, who lost his job after defying a federal order to dismantle a Ten Commandments monument.
The Ten Commandments contain both religious and secular directives, including the familiar proscriptions on stealing, killing and adultery. The Bible says God gave the list to Moses.
The Constitution bars any state "establishment" of religion. That means the government cannot promote religion in general, or favor one faith over another.
The lawyer for the Kentucky counties, Mathew Staver of the conservative law group Liberty Counsel, told justices that lower courts are fractured on the issue. A divided appeals court panel sided with the American Civil Liberties Union in the Kentucky case.
In the past decade, justices have refused to get involved in Ten Commandments disputes from around the country. Three conservative justices complained in 2001, when the court declined to rule on the constitutionality of a Ten Commandments display in front of the Elkhart, Ind., Municipal Building.
Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, joined by Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, said the city sought to reflect the cultural, historical and legal significance of the commandments. Rehnquist noted that justices' own chambers includes a carving of Moses holding the Ten Commandments.
The Rev. Barry W. Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State said Tuesday that he hopes the court uses the cases to declare government displays of religious documents and symbols unconstitutional.
"It's clear that the Ten Commandments is a religious document. Its display is appropriate in houses of worship but not at the seat of government," Lynn said.
The cases are Van Orden v. Perry, 03-1500 and McCreary County v. ACLU, 03-1693.
Yep. So does the old Library of Congress building and the Capitol.
Liberals want this renamed "The Ten Suggestions"
In some cases, it's just culturally relevant decoration, no different than that Greek goddess holding scales of justice in her hands. They should get over it. In 200 years they'll probably have a picture of a punk-rocker hung in some courtroom hallway.
In other cases, it's just additional posted info. You can't allow some info posted and reject other info because you don't like the message.
Inaccurate reporting/editorializing alert. A factually accurate account would read as follows: The Constitution bars any state act of congress regarding an "establishment" of religion. That means Activist judges have contrued this to mean that state and local governments cannot promote religion in general, or favor one faith over another (or even publicly recognize the role faith has played in the history of the state or local community).
If they strike down the Moses on their own building we should just raise the building and put the Supreme court into a Home Depot looking building, with metal exterior shaped like a box.
"Interesting, don't the Supremes have the 10 Commandments in their building?"
Yeah, and they have a statue of Mohammed on the wall, too. Actually, I don't believe there are any words on the tablets on that building. It's part of a frieze, called "The Lawgivers," and also includes Hammurabi. It's an equal opportunity frieze.
Well, it would be more of a culturally relevant display if the words were written in Hebrew.
Here's a list:
"In the Supreme Court's white marble courtroom, the nine sitting justices are not the only presiding presence. At the center of the nation's legal system, high above the justices' mahogany bench, the great lawgivers of history are depicted in marble friezes.
From Hammurabi to Moses to John Marshall, the stone sculptures commemorate written law as a force for stability in human affairs. The larger-than-life artworks, designed by architectural sculptor Adolph A. Weinman as the courthouse was being built in the early 1930s, convey the idea that, while the law begins with individuals, its principles never die.
The 18 lawgivers looking down on the justices are divided into two friezes of ivory-colored, Spanish marble. On the south wall, to the right of incoming visitors, are figures from the pre-Christian era -- Menes, Hammurabi, Moses, Solomon, Lycurgus, Solon, Draco, Confucius and Octavian (Caesar Augustus). On the north wall to the left are lawmakers of the Christian era -- Napoleon Bonaparte, Marshall, William Blackstone, Hugo Grotius, Louis IX, King John, Charlemagne, Muhammad and Justinian."
Founding Fathers must be turning in their graves when they hear of what judicial idiots have "found" in the constitution.
I don't see why it would matter either way.
The 10 Commandments have a relevant place in western culture (to include English.)
My guess is that they first penetrated western culture about 2.5 millennia ago. They hit England sometime in the tenure of the 1st century church.
More likely, liberals will call this "Hate Speech".
> My guess is that they first penetrated western culture about 2.5 millennia ago. They hit England sometime in the tenure of the 1st century church.
Yes, but it didn't stick. Christianity didn't really make a dent in Britain until the 700's or so. Pre-Christian heathen faiths were still dominant for quite some time.
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