WASHINGTON—Today’s decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court in two cases involving displays of the Ten Commandments on public property confirmed that government entities may display the Ten Commandments in certain circumstances, according to attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund.
“Like the Ten Commandments, America’s Judeo-Christian heritage is carved in stone. ADF is glad that the Supreme Court today recognized this truth in part,” said ADF Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence. “But these rulings only go part way in affirming that the Constitution allows government acknowledgements of America’s religious heritage. We’ve always believed that no single case or two is going to settle this once and for all.”
In
ACLU v. McCreary County, the court ruled 5 to 4 that Ten Commandments displays in three Kentucky counties are unconstitutional, claiming that the intent behind the original posting of the displays was to advance religion. In
Van Orden v. Perry, however, the court upheld a Ten Commandments display on the grounds of the Texas Capitol complex. The court ruled, in a decision by Chief Justice William Rehnquist, that the Texas display did not violate the Establishment Clause.
Lorence reiterated that the two decisions do not represent the end of the conflict. “They are part of an ongoing battle about whether Americans can acknowledge their own history,” he said. “ADF is in the Ten Commandments battle for the long haul. We will continue to defend a proper understanding of the Establishment Clause for as long as it takes.”
Information on the two cases—as well as resources on Ten Commandments litigation in general—can also be found on ADF’s Ten Commandments Web page at
www.telladf.org/tencommandments. ADF provided funding for both cases and wrote an amicus brief for the Supreme Court in the
Van Orden case.
ADF has also provided funding in a number of other recent Ten Commandments-related cases, including
Harlan County v. ACLU,
Mercier v. City of LaCrosse,
ACLU of Nebraska v. City of Plattsmouth, and
Summum v. City of Duchesne.
ADF is America’s largest legal alliance defending religious liberty through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
www.telladf.org
Related information
Van Orden: Plurality and Breyer Concurrence | Dissent
McCreary: Majority | Concurrence and Dissent