THE YEAR 2005 TEN COMMANDMENTS CASES BEFORE THE U.S. SUPREME
COURT, FROM KENTUCKY AND TEXAS
The Kentucky case
Sponsored link.
The background of the Kentucky case:
McCreary County v. ACLU of Kentucky (03-1693): Officials in McCreary,
Pulaski and Harlan counties in Kentucky had placed framed donated copies of the
the Protestant version of the Ten
Commandments from the King James Version of the Bible in the halls of two county courthouses and
some school
buildings. Each "...initially consisted of 'framed copies of one version of
the Ten Commandments which were not part of larger educational, historical or
retrospective exhibits'." 1
That is, the Decalogue was originally hung by itself, without any surrounding
documents representing concepts from other religions or from secular sources.
After a lawsuit was filed, the officials modified the displays to include many
documents with a Judeo-Christian religious theme, and a few secular documents.
The modified displays remained overwhelmingly religious in content.
Most court decisions involving cultural displays which include documents from
both multiple religions and secular sources have found them to be
constitutional. However, this is an unusual case, because the only religious
tradition portrayed is Judeo-Christianity, and because of its strongly religious
emphasis. Presumably, if texts from multiple
religions and more secular sources had been included, the lower courts would have found the displays to
be constitutional. But with only one religious tradition displayed, and with its
stress on religion, its
constitutionality is in doubt. The display implies government approval of
Judaism and Christianity as the only valid religion, the rejection of other religions,
and the relative unimportance of secular sources of law.
The initial trial:
The route to the U.S. Supreme Court took many twists:
The appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals:
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The counties appealed to a panel of three judges of the United
States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. |
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The plaintiffs won their case on appeal by a vote of 2 to 1. The
court ruled, in part: "...the very text in which the Ten Commandments are
contained in the schoolhouse displays manifests a patently religious
purpose. Defendants' courthouse displays also manifest a religious purpose
because they utterly fail to integrate the Ten Commandments with a secular
subject matter. When distilled to their essence, the courthouse displays
demonstrate that Defendants intend to convey the bald assertion that the Ten
Commandments formed the foundation of American legal tradition. The Supreme
Court has held, however, that 'such an avowed secular purpose is not
sufficient to avoid conflict with the First Amendment' when no effort has
been made to integrate the Ten Commandments with a discussion or display of
a secular subject matter. Stone, 449 U.S. at 41. Since Defendants’ displays
make no such effort, the district court correctly concluded that Defendants'
primary purpose was religious....Defendants' courthouse displays
assert that the Ten Commandments provide 'the moral background of the
Declaration of Independence and the foundation of our legal
tradition.'...The displays emphasize a single religious influence, with no
mention of any other religious or secular influences. This fact confirms the
rectitude of the district court’s conclusion that Defendants’ purposes were
religious." 1 |
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The counties appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, who decided on
2004-DEC-15 to hear oral arguments in the Kentucky and
Texas cases. |
Amicus Curiae (Friend of the Court) briefs:
Amicus Curiae briefs were filed with the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) by:
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National School Boards Association |
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Rutherford Institute |
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Conservative Legal Defense and Education Fund |
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Judicial Watch |
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Federal government |
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Becket Fund for Religious Liberty |
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Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs |
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Eagle Forum Education & Legal Defense Fund |
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Twenty one states joined together in a single brief: AL, FL, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, MN,
MO, MS, OH, OK, NM, PA, SC, TX, UT, VA, WI and WY. |
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Faith and Action |
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Pacific Justice Institute |
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Thomas More Law Center |
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Foundation for Moral Law, Inc. |
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American Legion |
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American Center for Law and Justice |
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Family Research Council |
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Focus on the Family |
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WallBuilders, Inc. |
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American Liberties Institute |
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American Humanist Association |
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Anti-Defamation League |
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American Atheists |
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Atheist Law Center |
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Freedom From Relgion [sic] Foundation |
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Council for Secular Humanism |
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International Academy of Humanism |
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Americans United for Separation of Church and State |
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Legal Historians and Law Scholars |
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Baptist Joint Committee. 2 |
On 2005-MAR-02. the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the two cases.
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"American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky v. McCreary County, Kentucky,
01-5935," United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, at:
http://laws.lp.findlaw.com/
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"McCreary County, Kentucky, et al. v. American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky," U.S. Supreme Court, at:
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/
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"Top Court to Weigh Ten Commandments Cases," Associated Press, 2005-FEB-26, at:
http://apnews.myway.com/
Copyright © 2005 by Ontario Consultants on Religious
Tolerance
Originally written: 2005-MAR-02
Latest update: 2005-JUN-27
Author: B.A. Robinson 
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