Court derails planned Kentucky commandments display
By The Associated Press
10.10.02
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FRANKFORT, Ky. — A Kentucky legislative directive to put a Ten Commandments monument on the Capitol grounds is an unconstitutional mixing of church and state, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday.
The decision by a three-judge panel of the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals means the 6-foot-tall granite monument will stay in storage for now.
"This to me is not the finish of it," said state Sen. Albert Robinson, who sponsored the monument resolution approved by the 2000 General Assembly.
Even if an appeal is not pursued to the U.S. Supreme Court, the legislature will continue its efforts to promote the display of the Ten Commandments, Robinson said. "We think this will help us to start over," he said.
Indeed, the opinion written by Chief Judge Boyce Martin of Louisville noted there are ways for the Ten Commandments to be displayed in the context of other historical and nonreligious material.
But while the resolution said other "materials" should be placed with the monument, those materials were never specified, and Martin said it was clear that the plan was for the Ten Commandments to dominate.
"In our view, this indicates that the other components of the display are an afterthought, at best, secondary in importance to the Ten Commandments, and suggests that the Commonwealth acted with a predominantly religious purpose," Martin said.
The appeals panel's decision upheld a ruling by U.S. District Judge Joseph Hood.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky along with several clergy members filed the lawsuit to halt the display. The ACLU did not argue that the Ten Commandments could not be displayed in any manner.
"Of course it can be done in a neutral way," said David Friedman, who argued the case for the ACLU. "The problem is when you say, 'Ah ha! The Ten Commandments, now what do you need to surround it with to get away with it.' "
The monument was donated to the state in 1971 by the Fraternal Order of Eagles. It stood until the late 1980s in an obscure area near a parking lot, when it came down for a construction project.
The 2000 resolution directed that the monument be placed next to the giant floral clock that is the featured display in the area between the Capitol and the Capitol Annex.
The decision was not unanimous.
Judge Alice Batchelder of Ohio said the case was not ready for consideration because the display had not been erected and it was not possible to tell whether it amounted to a government endorsement or establishment of religion.
The Ten Commandments have been at the center of several recent legal battles in Kentucky, including local efforts to post them in classrooms and courthouses. Almost without exception, courts have ruled that the displays were intended to promote religion.
Robinson complained that his own exercise of religion was being restricted by the rulings.
"It's important for us as Americans, it's important for us as Christians, for us to be able to do this."
A spokeswoman for the Finance Cabinet, which was the defendant in the lawsuit because it is in charge of public grounds, said no decision had been made on an appeal.
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