Ten Commandments Litigation from Coast to Coast
I wanted to give everyone an update on the status of several Ten Commandments cases that we currently have pending throughout the country. You will recall that last year the Supreme Court issued split decisions in the Ten Commandments cases. In the case out of Texas, the Supreme Court held that the Fraternal Order of Eagles monument on display on the Texas State Capitol grounds was constitutional. Justice Breyer provided the key swing vote enabling the monument to stand. On the very same day in a case out of Kentucky, the Supreme Court held that a display inside a courthouse was not constitutional. These contradictory decisions are hard to reconcile. Because of these split decisions, we are continuing to litigate a number of Ten Commandments cases throughout the country.
We have two cases currently in Kentucky and two in Utah. The first Kentucky case is a lawsuit brought by the ACLU of Kentucky against Mercer County. The United States 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Mercer Countys display of Foundations of American Law & Government and sharply criticized the ACLUs position in its opinion. The court asserted that, The ACLUs repeated reference to the separation of church and state has become tiresome. In response, the ACLU filed a petition for rehearing en banc, requesting the entire 6th Circuit Court of Appeals to hear the case--not just the three judges who initially ruled in our favor. I am happy to report that at the end of April, the 6th Circuit denied the petition for rehearing. The ACLU now has until July 24th to file a certiorari petition to the Supreme Court of the United States. This case could go a long way in clarifying this confused area of the law, and I will keep everybody posted on its progress.
In Utah, we successfully defended a small town that sold a portion of a city park containing a Ten Commandments monument to private owners. This has been a method utilized around the country to avoid these historic monuments from being taken down. Local private associations have been formed to maintain monuments and to allow them to continue to be seen by the community. We have successfully defended these cases at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, as well as in Maryland. The case in Utah is now on its way to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, and we are currently awaiting an oral argument date. I will be reviewing the briefs in a related case out of Utah involving Fraternal Order of Eagles monuments later this week. In the second case involving the City of Pleasant Grove, we are defending a town that has had a challenge to its Fraternal Order of Eagles monument. In that particular case, the plaintiffs filed a Motion for Preliminary Injunction. We fought that motion and it was denied. The plaintiffs have taken an appeal to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals; and, as I said, we are in the process of reviewing and preparing briefs now.
This summer promises to be a busy time of litigation for these Ten Commandments cases, and we will continue to keep you posted. For updated information, please visit www.aclj.org.