Ten Commandments Victory Upheld Today

Posted on April 24, 2006

Update: ACLJ primarly responsible for this victory.

U.S. District Court Judge James Carr said this week that a Ten Commandments monument by the Fraternal Order of Eagles placed outside the Lucas County Courthouse is constitutional. The ACLU of Ohio sued Lucas County in 2002 to have the display removed, saying it was unconstitutional and inappropriately promoted religion. Interestingly, Judge Carr in his order cited a law review article that I drafted along with ACLJ Senior Counsel Frank Manion. The law review article entitled “The Supreme Court and The Ten Commandments: Compounding the Establishment Clause Confusion,” was published in the William & Mary’s Bill of Rights Journal last year. We noted that the Supreme Court’s conflicting decisions in the Ten Commandments cases did nothing to “clear away the fog obscuring religious display cases.”

The good news is that our law review article was cited and the Court held that the monument can stay. This case follows up on our significant win at the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals that held that a Ten Commandments monument in Kentucky is, in fact, constitutional and can stay in place. So far, the developments on the Ten Commandments cases since decisions last year have been moving in the right direction for our position.

Via Liberty Counsel

Cincinnati, OH - Today, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals handed the ACLU another defeat regarding a Kentucky display of the Ten Commandments, voting 19-5 to uphold the Foundations of American Law and Government display. The case is ACLU of Kentucky v. Mercer County, Kentucky. Liberty Counsel represents Mercer County.

The Foundations of American Law and Government display in the county courthouse includes the Ten Commandments, the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, the Magna Charta, the Star-Spangled Banner, the National Motto, the Preamble to the Kentucky Constitution, the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution, and a picture of Lady Justice. This display is identical to the one Liberty Counsel defended at the Supreme Court last year in two other Kentucky counties, McCreary and Pulaski. The litigation in those two cases continues and may end up again at the High Court.

The original, three-judge panel in Mercer County adopted the reasoning of the Seventh Circuit in Books v. Elkhart County, a Liberty Counsel case where the Seventh Circuit upheld an identical display. The Sixth Circuit rejected the ACLU’s “repeated reference to ‘the separation of church and state.’ This extra-constitutional construct has grown tiresome. The First Amendment does not demand a wall of separation between church and state.” The ACLU asked the full Court to rehear the case. Today, the Court voted 19-5 to allow the decision to stand.

Mathew D. Staver, President and General Counsel of Liberty Counsel, hailed today’s decision as a great victory. “Today’s decision begins to turn the tide against the ACLU, which has been on a search-and-destroy mission to remove all vestiges of our religious history from public view.” Staver added, “Whether the ACLU likes it or not, history is crystal clear that each one of the Ten Commandments played an important role in the founding of our system of law and government. Federal courts are beginning to rightfully reject extreme notions of ’separation of church and state.’ It’s about time that courts begin interpreting the Constitution consistent with its original purpose. With the changing of personnel at the U.S. Supreme Court, the trend toward a more historical approach to the First Amendment is well underway.”

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Comments

2 Responses to “Ten Commandments Victory Upheld Today”

kerwin_brown on April 24th, 2006 3:41 pm

Sounds good! I like to hear when the good guys win one.
psarsfield on April 28th, 2006 8:15 am

Hey folks, let’s give the credit for this where it is actually due. This case was litigated by Frank Manion of the ACLJ, NOT Liberty Counsel. ACLJ’s Manion argued the case at the district court and the 6th Circuit, and wrote every brief. I am a friend of the man who donated this display to Mercer County and he is outraged that Staver and Co. are taking credit for something they did not do. L.C. does plenty of good work. But they did nothing on this one and it’s just wrong for them to be taking kudos nationally for this.