Appeals court ruled that putting 10 Commandments in a display with other secular items doesn’t take away the religious nature of the commandments.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A split federal appeals court upheld a ban on the Ten Commandments in a display that included multiple religious and government documents at two southern Kentucky courthouses.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ruled Wednesday in a 2-1 vote that the permanent injunction barring McCreary and Pulaski counties from posting the display can remain in place. The ruling comes in a long-running legal battle that reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005.
Along with the Ten Commandments, the displays, called the “Foundations of Law and Government,” included the Bill of Rights, Magna Carta and Star Spangled Banner.
Judge Eric Clay wrote that the two counties could not provide a “valid secular purpose” for the display.
This was a basic argument by religious right extremists. If you include the 10 Commandments in a display with other “secular” items then it doesn’t violate the 1st amendment. The court said it still violates the Constitution.
Like a friend of mine said “Star Spangled Banner? What foundation did that provide?”
