FRANKFORT, Ky. — A federal judge has barred the placement of a monument of the Ten Commandments on the grounds of Kentucky’s state capitol.
U.S. District Judge Joseph Hood, siding with the American Civil Liberties Union, ruled July 25 that the monument would amount to a government endorsement of religion.
“I think the purpose of this is not secular, but I think it is religious,” the judge said after a hearing that lasted about an hour.
The monument is a dark stone tablet — 6 feet tall and 4 feet wide — that was scheduled to be placed near the floral clock on the grounds of the capitol in Frankfort.
The ACLU sued after the General Assembly passed a law requiring that it be placed on the grounds. David Friedman, a lawyer for the ACLU, said the display was a religious one that did not belong on state property, the Associated Press reported.
Share with others: