The United States Supreme Court has ruled that "non-neutral" displays of the Ten Commandments in courtrooms violate the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment guarantee of religious neutrality, but that "historical" displays are permitted.
In the case McCreary County v. ACLU of Kentucky,
the court ruled that the display of the Commandments in Kentucky county
courthouses constituted an unconstitutional endorsement of religion.
However, in the case Van Orden v. Perry heard at the same time, the court permitted the display of the Commandments in a monument at the Texas state capitol.
In the Texas case, Chief Justice Rehnquist, writing for the majority, wrote that:
- Texas has treated her Capitol grounds monuments as representing the
several strands in the State’s political and legal history. The
inclusion of the Ten Commandments monument in this group has a dual
significance, partaking of both religion and government.
However, in the Kentucky decision, the Court ruled that the history
of the Ten Commandments' display in the courthouse was evidence that
religious (and not historical) in intention and that the reasoning
given in legislative resolutions was not reflective of the counties'
actual intentions in their displays. Justice Souter wrote for the
majority, drawing specific attention to the character of the display:
- The display's unstinting focus was on religious passages, showing
that the Counties were posting the Commandments precisely because of
their sectarian content. That demonstration of the government's
objective was enhanced by serial religious references and the
accompanying resolution's claim about the embodiment of ethics in
Christ.
Source: Wikinews
