AgapePress - Ten Commandments Ruling in Kentucky Hailed as Evidence of Turning Tide Against ACLU
April 25, 2006
By Jenni Parker
(AgapePress) - Pro-family attorneys are hailing the decision of the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold a three-judge panel's prior ruling allowing the Ten Commandments to remain on display at Kentucky's Mercer County Courthouse.
Last December the Sixth Circuit panel unanimously ruled the Mercer County Ten Commandments display constitutional on the grounds that its purpose is historical rather than religious. The Sixth Circuit Court has jurisdiction over Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, and Michigan.
In yesterday's 19-5 vote by the full court, the majority of the judges refused to rehear the case of ACLU of Kentucky v. Mercer County, Kentucky, rejecting arguments by the American Civil Liberties Union that the Commandments display violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The court's ruling allows the panel's previous decision to uphold the constitutionality of the display to stand.
According to an Associated Press report, in the December 2005 ruling the panel cited the fact that the courthouse's biblical laws are displayed alongside replicas of nine other historic documents, including the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence. The judges also noted that the font size is the same for all the documents, and no attempt was made to put the religious document at a higher level.
A dissenting judge on the Sixth Circuit Court argued that the Mercer County display was similar to two other Kentucky counties' displays that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional last year. However, Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law & Justice, one of the legal groups representing Mercer County, says the full court's ultimate decision demonstrates the majority's belief "that its three-judge panel ruled correctly in upholding the constitutionality of this display."
Yesterday's ruling by the Sixth Circuit Court is "an important defeat," Sekulow contends, both for the ACLU and for other groups "committed to removing our religious heritage and traditions from the public square." If the case is appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, he adds, he and his group stand ready to defend the Ten Commandments display "and remain confident that the constitutionality of the display will prevail."
