The U.S. Supreme Court is poised to finally settle conflicting rulings over whether the Ten Commandments can be legally displayed on government property.
Opening arguments begin today in a Supreme Court case alleging that Texas violates the U.S. Constitution by displaying a 6-foot-tall granite monument of the Ten Commandments on the state Capitol grounds.
Thomas Van Orden sued Gov. Rick Perry in November 2003, claiming that the monument violated a First Amendment clause against the state establishment of a religion.
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said in a press conference Monday he will argue that the Ten Commandments monument is not an endorsement of religion because the Texas Legislature accepted the monument in 1961 from the Fraternal Order of Eagles to commend their work combating juvenile delinquency. The monument is one of 17 memorials that occupy the Capitol grounds.
"The First Amendment was never intended to remove all religious expression from the public square," Abbott said. "The Ten Commandments are undoubtedly a sacred religious text, but they also had an undeniable impact on the history, culture and laws of Texas and the rest of the country. As such, they deserve to be recognized alongside the other influences on who we are as people."
Van Orden's lawyer, Erwin Chemerinsky, told the Texan in February he disagrees with the argument that the Commandments are anything but a religious code, pointing out that it directly references God repeatedly throughout its text.
"That is not a moral code," Chemerinsky said. "It's a religious document. The irony is that the people who care most about this are themselves religious."
Chemerinsky said the prominence of the display qualifies it as a state endorsement of religion.
The monument sits halfway between the Capitol and the state Supreme Court building to "[signify] the secular impact of the Ten Commandments on the state's legal institutions," according to a written statement from the Attorney General's office.
At the same time, the Supreme Court will hear a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky against three counties in the state, alleging that they violated the same clause by posting framed copies of the Ten Commandments in county courthouses and in schools.
Lower courts have split on the issue, declaring the Texas display constitutional and the Kentucky display unconstitutional. The Kentucky display was found to violate the First Amendment clause because they did not display the Commandments objectively, and they were found to have a clear religious purpose.
"In Kentucky the commandments are intended to advocate religious beliefs," said Beth Wilson, executive director of the ACLU Kentucky branch. "Not every display of the Ten Commandments is necessarily an endorsement of religion, though."
The Supreme Court is set to decide the issue once and for all. A ruling is expected to be passed down on the cases in June.
"The Texas monument is an excellent example of how to display the Ten Commandments within the parameters of the Constitution, and I hope that the court will use Texas as a model for the nation," Abbott said.
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