On The Front Lines
Supreme Court Declares Texas Ten Commandments Monument Constitutional
WASHINGTON, DC -- In a split decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that there was no constitutional violation in the placement of a Ten Commandments monument on the grounds of the state capitol building in Austin, Texas. Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute filed a friend of the court brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in Thomas Van Orden v. Rick Perry, one of two Ten Commandments cases that came before the high court this year. The Supreme Court was asked to determine whether a 6-foot by 3-foot Ten Commandments monument, one of 17 monuments that commemorate Texas history and culture on the grounds of the Texas Capitol, constitutes an establishment of religion in violation of the First Amendment. A three-judge panel from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals had unanimously affirmed the constitutionality of the monument, which was donated by the Fraternal Order of Eagles in 1961 to promote youth morality. Institute attorneys had asked the high court to uphold the Fifth Circuit's ruling, pointing out that the mere presence of a monument with religious themes on government property is not a violation of the Establishment Clause. A copy of the Institute's brief is available here."I am pleased that the Supreme Court has recognized the role that religion has played in our nation's history," said John W. Whitehead, president and founder of The Rutherford Institute. "It was, in fact, the Supreme Court that declared that 'the history of man is inseparable from the history of religion.' This decision sends a clear message about the importance of the Decalogue's place in our nation's history."
The Ten Commandments monument under dispute in Van Orden v. Perry is one of 17 historic monuments commemorating the people, ideals and events that compose Texan identity. Located on the 22-acre Texas State Capitol grounds, the display in its entirety has been designated a National Historic Landmark. However, the presence of the Ten Commandments as part of the display was challenged by Thomas Van Orden, who sued the state, asking for the removal of the granite monument. In asking the Supreme Court to uphold the constitutionality of the Ten Commandments monument's presence within a historic display, Institute attorneys cited a Fourth Circuit opinion which held that "[g]iven our national interest in historical preservation, [it] would set a dangerous precedent if we were to hold that any relic containing a religious message should be removed merely because 'any person . . . could find an endorsement of religion' or 'some people may be offended' by it. Our country's history is steeped in religious traditions. The fact that government buildings continue to preserve artifacts of that history does not mean that they necessarily support or endorse the particular messages contained in those artifacts." The Rutherford Institute's "Constitutional Guidelines for Displaying the Ten Commandments" are also available here.
The Rutherford Institute is an international, nonprofit civil liberties organization committed to defending constitutional and human rights.
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