Standing Up Against the ACLU
I wanted to bring you an important update on a case involving our representation of an
As you may recall, Judge DeWeese has been battling the ACLU since 2001 when he was initially sued for displaying two posters in his courtroom - one of the Ten Commandments and one of the Bill of Rights. We have represented Judge DeWeese since the beginning when a federal district court, along with a divided appeals court, ordered the Ten Commandments poster removed.
Now, were in the middle of a new lawsuit brought by the ACLU against Judge DeWeese.
The ACLU filed a federal suit in October against Judge DeWeese challenging a framed document that has been displayed on the wall of his courtroom now for years. Its prominently entitled, Philosophies of Law in Conflict. The content and purpose of Judge DeWeeses poster could not be plainer. On one side of the poster, serving as an example of moral absolutes, is the text of the Ten Commandments. On the other side of the poster, serving as examples of moral relativism, are statements taken from the Humanist Manifesto and other sources, including a quote from Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
Judge DeWeeses reasons for creating and displaying the poster are set forth in the document itself. The aim of the poster is to educate visitors to Judge DeWeeses courtroom that, in his words, there is a conflict of legal and moral philosophies raging in the United States, and that, in this conflict between moral relativism and moral absolutism we are moving to a relativist understanding of morality and law.
Judge DeWeese, who has been a judge for eighteen years, and has presided over thousands of criminal cases, states in his poster that the cases passing through this courtroom demonstrate we are paying a high cost in increased crime and other social ills for moving from moral absolutism to moral relativism since the mid 20th century.
Despite the clear educational purpose of Judge DeWeeses display and despite the fact the poster simply communicates Judge DeWeeses personal opinion regarding morality and law, the ACLU has sued the Judge in federal court, alleging a violation of the Establishment Clause. In this case, the ACLU is once again trying to establish the rule that a public display of the text of the Ten Commandments automatically violates the Constitution. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The law is clear that the Ten Commandments may be displayed by the government for a non-religious purpose and in a secular context. This is exactly the case here. It is not the purpose of Judge DeWeeses poster to proselytize, but to educate a purpose entirely consistent with the role of a judge and the dictates of the Constitution.
Whats interesting here is that the ACLU filed this new lawsuit after the judge from the previous case denied the ACLUs motion to hold Judge DeWeese in contempt for displaying this Philosophies of Law in Conflict document.
We are representing Judge DeWeese in this lawsuit and have just filed a response to the ACLUs complaint. Were also confident that the court will conclude that this display is constitutional and poses no violation of the Establishment Clause.
We will keep you posted as this case unfolds.