Have they denied a request for something of similar historical weight?
I did a googel search for History of the Law
The top hit was http://www.duhaime.org/Law_museum/hist.htm
This gave me "The Timetable of World Legal History"
It listed in order
2350 BC: Urukagina's Code,
2050 BC: Ur-Nammu's Code
1700 BC: Hammurabi's Code
1300 BC: The Ten Commandments
1280 BC to 880 BC: The Laws of Manu
621 BC: Draco's Law
600 BC: Lycergus' Law
550 BC: Solon's Laws
536 BC: The Book of Punishments
450 BC: The Twelve Tables
Now of that list I think most would agree “The Ten Commandments” is the most famous Law.... but did denied a request any thing else on that list....
Have they denied a request for something of similar historical weight?
Please note I did a googel search for “History of the Law” not History of the Religion
and I got "The Timetable of World Legal History" not "The Timetable of World Religious History"
So you would agree "The Ten Commandments" also history
But then again did denied a request any thing else on that list Have they denied a request for something of similar legal historical weight?
That's actually not a bad line of defense you've cooked up, honestly. The problem is that Judge Moore shot it directly in the foot with his actions. From the 11'th circuit opinion:
The Chief Justice did add two smaller displays to the rotunda at some point after the Ten Commandments monument was installed. The first, a plaque entitled “Moral Foundation of Law,” contains a quotation from the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s letter from the Birmingham jail speaking of just laws and “the moral law or law of God,” and a quotation from Frederick Douglass speaking of slavery as hiding man “from the laws of God.” Id. at 1324-25 (App. D - providing a full quotation of the plaque). That plaque, which the Chief Justice paid for with his own money, measures forty-two inches by thirty-two inches. Id. at 1296.
So, since I think you're going to have serious trouble arguing that MLK's "Letter From a Birmingham Jail" and a quote from Frederick Douglass are of significant "legal historical weight", you might want to find another line of reasoning.
Really, Moore was quite clear about why he placed the Commandments there, and it has nothing to do with history:
At the public unveiling of the monument the day after its installation, Chief Justice Moore delivered a speech commemorating the event, and in that speech he talked about why he had placed the monument, which he described as one “depicting the moral foundation of our law,” where he did. He explained that the location of the monument was “fitting and proper” because:
this monument will serve to remind the appellate courts and judges of the circuit and district courts of this state, the members of the bar who appear before them, as well as the people who visit the Alabama Judicial Building, of the truth stated in the preamble of the Alabama Constitution, that in order to establish justice, we must invoke “the favor and guidance of Almighty God.”Id. at 1321-24 (App. C - reproducing the full text of Chief Justice Moore’s remarks at the unveiling ceremony). During that speech, the Chief Justice criticized government officials who “forbid teaching your children that they are created in the image of Almighty God” and who “purport all the while that it is a government and not God who gave us our rights,” because they have “turned away from those absolute standards which form the basis of our morality and the moral foundation of our law” and “divorced the Constitution and the Bill of Rights from these principles.” Id. at 1322. Recalling his campaign “pledge to restore the moral foundation of law,” he noted that “[i]t is axiomatic that to restore morality, we must first recognize the source of that morality,” and that “our forefathers recognized the sovereignty of God.” Id. He noted during the speech that no government funds had been expended on the monument.
The Chief Justice described various acknowledgments of God throughout this country’s history, some of which, he pointed out, are inscribed on the monument. He proclaimed that the unveiling of the monument that day “mark[ed] the restoration of the moral foundation of law to our people and the return to the knowledge of God in our land.” Id. at 1321. In closing, he told the audience that they would “find no documents surrounding the Ten Commandments because they stand alone as an acknowledgment of that God that’s contained in our pledge, contained in our motto, and contained in our oath.” Id. at 1324.
During the trial the Chief Justice testified candidly about why he had placed the monument in the rotunda. The following exchanges between him and one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys establish that purpose:
Q [W]as your purpose in putting the Ten Commandments monument in the Supreme Court rotunda to acknowledge GOD’s law and GOD’s sovereignty? . . .A Yes.
1st Supp. Rec. Vol. 2 at 100.
Q . . . Do you agree that the monument, the Ten Commandments monument, reflects the sovereignty of GOD over the affairs of men?A Yes.
Q And the monument is also intended to acknowledge GOD’s overruling power over the affairs of men, would that be correct? . . .
A Yes.
Q . . . [W]hen you say “GOD” you mean GOD of the Holy Scripture?
A Yes.
1st Supp. Rec. V ol. 3 at 34.