Federal appeals court upholds Ten Commandments display

A federal appeals court has upheld a Ten Commandments display identical to one ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year.

The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Cincinnati, affirmed Dec. 20 a federal judge’s decision that a courthouse display in Mercer County, Ky., of nine documents, including the Ten Commandments, is constitutional. In a unanimous opinion by a three-judge panel, the court said it does not violate the Constitution’s establishment clause because the display has a secular purpose. The panel ruled the display does not endorse religion.

The Mercer County display does not differ from the final version of displays in Kentucky’s McCreary and Pulaski counties, which the Supreme Court invalidated in June. In those cases, the Ten Commandments stood alone before other documents were added. The final version still had a “predominantly religious purpose,” Associate Justice David Souter wrote.

In Mercer County, the Ten Commandments and the other documents — including the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights and Magna Carta — were displayed together in frames of equal size from the start. The Mercer County display “lacks a similar sectarian pedigree,” Judge Richard Suhrheinrich wrote for the 6th Circuit panel in ACLU vs. Mercer County. (BP)