ACLU sues again (& again)
It seems the ACLU will sue whoever violates their interpretation
From, The Kentucky Citizen Digest, March/April, 2002.

Four more Kentucky counties were recently caught in the whirlwind of ACLU lawsuits aimed at removing the Ten Commandments from public places.  In November of 2001, Garrard, Grayson, Mercer, and Rowan counties joined three other Kentucky counties already embroiled in lawsuits with the ACLU over posting the Ten Commandments.

Kentucky ACLU General Counsel David Friedman blamed county officials for the ongoing controversy.  ‘’These four elected not to follow the clear decision of the courts to date . . . and insisted on getting sued,” Friedman told the Louisville Courier-Journal. The ACLU hinted that more lawsuits are around the corner by citing a recent Courier-Journal survey that found as many as 27 Kentucky courthouses have the Ten Commandments posted

Friedman, a longtime critic of religious displays in public, also told the Courier-Journal — after the 2000 General Assembly passed a resolution supporting the Ten Commandments — that it was “irresponsible and cowardly for lawmakers to approve legislation [that is] blatantly unconstitutional.” His organization successfully blocked part of the legislation that called for the Ten Commandments monument to be taken out of storage and placed on the Capitol grounds.  Attorney General Ben Chandler appealed the ruling and is waiting for the verdict from the U.S. 6th Circuit Court.

Barring the Ten Commandments from the public square has drawn the ire of Kentuckians.  “The Ten Commandments are God’s formula for an orderly society,” said Herschel Walker, Baptist pastor and president of the 200,000-member Citizens for the Ten Commandments. “When you remove that barrier, you have chaos.” Walker and his two-year-old organization promotes the posting of the Ten Commandments through rallies and speaking events.

Mat Staver, president and general counsel of Liberty Counsel, a civil-liberties education and legal defense organization, says there is nothing wrong with displaying the Ten Commandments in public places.  “The Ten Commandments are part of American history. They have clearly shaped American law and government,” Staver said.  “If we were to remove the Ten Commandments from public display, we would be rewriting American history.”

Staver and his organization are representing Harlan, Pulaski and McCreary counties following U.S. District Judge Jennifer Coffman’s rulings on two separate occasions that Ten Commandment displays are unconstitutional, even when posted alongside other historical documents.

“The display does not appear to have been intended to educate ... county residents, in a balanced or accurate manner, about the traditions and texts that were drawn upon by this nation’s  founders or about the complex role religion has played in this country’s history,” said Coffman in her first ruling. In her ruling last June, Coffman said the Ten Commandment displays violate the First Amendment because they endorse religion.

But Staver disagrees.  In his extensive brief filed with the 6th Circuit, he points out that 12 of the original 13 colonies adopted all ten of the commandments in their civil and criminal codes. “Acknowledging our history, and the role the Ten Commandments have played in shaping American law, is far from an establishment of religion,” Staver said.

Staver said he believes his chances of winning his appeal in the 6th Circuit are good since the court recently upheld the constitutionality of Ohio’s state motto: “With God all things are possible.”  However, should the case go to the U.S. Supreme Court the battle over the Ten Commandments would come full circle.

In 1980, the Supreme Court struck down a Kentucky law that required the posting of the Ten Commandments in public schools.  But this time the circumstances are much different, leading court watchers to believe the chances of the court upholding the constitutionality of posting the Ten Commandments are much better.

Other states are embroiled in controversy over Ten Commandments displays as well. In Alabama, State Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore recently installed a 5,280-pound, four-foot-high granite monument inscribed with the Ten Commandments in the rotunda of the state judiciary building. The ACLU filed suit in early January to have it removed.

Such actions by the ACLU contradict their position on free speech, according to Richard Nelson, policy analyst for The Family Foundation. “For an organization that prides itself on defending free speech, it seems odd that the ACLU musters such zeal to eradicate a type of speech they happen to disagree with,” Nelson said.  “If any of these cases go to the Supreme Court it would be ironic for ACLU lawyers to argue their case in the same room where Moses and the Ten Commandments occupy the central position over the Chief Justice’s seat.”
 

Key Family Foundation Contacts: Kent Ostrander , Executive Director Martin Cothran , Senior Associate Policy Analyst