Appeals Court Lets Indiana Ten Commandments Decision Stand
by Allie Martin and Jenni Parker
May 20, 2005
(AgapePress) - The entire Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has decided not to rehear a decision upholding the Ten Commandments as part of a historical display in one Indiana courthouse.In March, a three-judge panel of the 7th Circuit appellate court issued an opinion allowing the inclusion of the Ten Commandments as part of a display known as "The Foundations of American Law and Government." Last week, all 11 judges on the court voted not to rehear the case from Elkhart County, Indiana.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) had filed suit against Elkhart County after it first posted the Foundations of American Law and Government display. A federal district court ruled in 2004 that the display was unconstitutional. But Liberty Counsel, a legal group that specializes in defending religious freedom and traditional values, argued in defense of the display before the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Arguments in the Elkhart case followed the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last year to review similar Ten Commandments displays in Kentucky and Texas. But now, the attorney who defended the Indiana display hopes the favorable outcome in that case may encourage the Supreme Court to recognize the constitutionality of such displays.
Elkhart County is represented by Mat Staver, president and general counsel of Liberty Counsel, who also presented arguments before the Supreme Court on March 2, 2005, in defense of Ten Commandments displays in two Kentucky counties. He says the Elkhart County display is identical to those he defended before the nation's highest court.
Mat Staver | |
"We're talking about the exact same display of the Ten Commandments before the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals as to the display in McCreary and Pulaski Counties in Kentucky," Staver points out, "and when you have 11 judges of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals make this decision -- some of whom are very well-known judges, very respected by Supreme Court justices -- I think that sends a very loud and clear message."The ACLU and similar groups contend that representations of the Ten Commandments on state or public property violate the Establishment Clause of the Constitution of the United States, or the so-called "separation of church and state." However, Staver argues that displaying the biblical laws given to Moses for the government of God's people -- laws upon which America's own system of government is based -- is a "permissible accommodation and acknowledgement of religion and its role in society."
Hence, the Liberty Counsel spokesman asserts, "Posting the Ten Commandments in public places is a permissible acknowledgement rather than an establishment of religion." And the fact that all 11 of the 7th Circuit Court judges have indicated "their agreement with the decision to allow the Ten Commandments to stand" sends an unequivocal message, he contends. Their decision not to rehear the Elkhart County case declares, in effect, the appellate court judges' unanimous agreement "that the Ten Commandments indeed are mainstream, and they're part of American history and heritage," the attorney says.
"That's very timely," Staver adds, referring to the fact that the ruling on the Elkhart County display comes "just before the Supreme Court issues its final decision on the Kentucky as well as the Texas Ten Commandments cases." A decision by the high court on the legality of those displays is expected any time between now and the end of June when the high court's term ends.
Staver says he has advised the Elkhart County officials that they can now repost their "Foundations of American Law and Government" display. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling has cleared the way for the public display of the Ten Commandments in Elkhart County.
