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Judge Dismisses ACLU Challenge to Ten Commandments Display
January 24, 2003
Mathew D. Staver
LEXINGTON,
KY - Handing the ACLU a
significant defeat, Federal District
Court Judge Karl Forrester, in the
Eastern District of Kentucky, held on
Wednesday that a display of the Ten
Commandments together with other
historical documents in Mercer County,
Kentucky, is constitutional. Mercer
County is represented jointly by
Liberty Counsel and the American
Center for Law and Justice.
The ACLU sued Mercer County for its
display in the county courthouse that
contained the Ten Commandments.
The display included 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 United
States Constitution, and a picture of
Lady Justice. Named the
"Foundations of American Law and
Government" display, the display
is intended to depict several
documents that have played a
significant role in the founding of
our system of law and government.
Judge Forrester had previously denied
the ACLU's request for an injunction
against the display. In a
previous opinion denying the request
for an Injunction, Judge Forrester
stated, "for good or bad, right
or wrong, the Ten Commandments did
have an influence upon the development
of United States law and it can be
constitutional to display the Ten
Commandments in the appropriate
context."
Judge Forrester's decision Wednesday
that ended the ACLU's challenge
against Mercer County recognized that
"The display clearly has a
legitimate secular purpose of,
including but not limited to,
acknowledging the historical influence
of the Commandments on the development
of this country's laws and this record
is devoid of any evidence indicating a
religious purpose by the
government." Based on this,
Judge Forrester granted the County's
Motion for Summary Judgment and issued
a final judgment holding the display
to be constitutional.
Mat Staver hailed today's decision as
a great victory. Staver stated,
"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 has
played an important role in the
founding of our system of law and
government. Each one of the Ten
Commandments was adopted as law by 12
of the 13 original American
colonies." Staver also
added, "As long as a governmental
entity displays the Ten Commandments
together with other historical
documents and does so for an
educational or historical purpose,
such displays will be
constitutional." Staver
concluded, "This case should be
used as a model for other counties
wishing to display historical
documents, including the Ten
Commandments. These displays are
constitutional."
Mathew D. Staver, Esq.
Liberty Counsel
http://www.lc.org.
An Ally of the Alliance Defense Fund
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