Ohio judge told to remove Ten Commandments poster

By The Associated Press

06.13.02

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CLEVELAND — While saying a county judge's intentions were "generally laudable," a federal judge ruled that a poster showing the Ten Commandments should not be displayed in his courtroom.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen O'Malley ruled June 11 that Richland County Common Pleas Judge James DeWeese's posting the of the commandments is unconstitutional "because the debate he seeks to foster is inherently religious in character."

DeWeese said yesterday that rather than take the poster down he will ask O'Malley not to enforce her ruling until his arguments are reviewed by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

"I am confident of the legality and correctness of the challenged conduct and welcome the opportunity to take the case before a higher tribunal," said DeWeese, whose courtroom is in Mansfield, between Cleveland and Columbus.

"We're disappointed with the decision," said Gene Kapp, spokesman for American Center for Law and Justice, which represented DeWeese. "But we're already working on our appeal. We are working on a number of Ten Commandment cases across the country."

Last year, the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio sued DeWeese and the county commissioners. Bernard Davis, an ACLU member in Mansfield, objected to the poster and said the display made him feel as though the judge forced religion on him.

But attorneys for Richland County said the Ten Commandments are more than a religious text; they also provide a significant influence on the modern legal system.

Mark Landes, a lawyer representing the Richland County commissioners, said O'Malley has been asked to drop the county commissioners as a defendant. The commissioners had no role in the display, he said.

"The important point is it just goes to show how much our freedoms are under attack by the judicial system in America, especially the federal bench," said Dan Hardwick, a Richland County commissioner.

DeWeese has said he has used the display to teach groups that tour his courtroom about the development of the legal system.

O'Malley wrote in the ruling issued June 11 that "the Founding Fathers creation of a wall of separation between church and state was designed to ensure full religious freedom to believe or not to believe, to participate or not to participate, as one pleases."

Raymond Vasvari, the legal director of the ACLU in Cleveland, applauded the decision.

"It is imperative that church-state separation be honored, above all, in the very courtroom where judges are sworn to uphold the Constitution," he said.

DeWeese has been a county judge since 1991.

The U.S. Supreme Court about a year ago decided against hearing a case involving display of the Ten Commandments. The court chose not to rule on the constitutionality of a Ten Commandments display in front of the Elkhart, Ind., Municipal Building and let stand a lower court ruling that a marker violated the constitutional boundaries between church and state.

Update

Ohio judge gets go-ahead to rehang commandments poster
Meanwhile, ministers urge county school board to appeal order to remove stone tablets from public schools.  06.20.02

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