Ten Commandments Decision Sets Major Precedent


http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/news/060123a.asp


By Drew Parkhill
CBN News Sr. Analyst


CBN.com – (CBN News) - It's been one of the most intense legal battles in America: Can the Ten Commandments be posted on government property?

Now, a federal court has issued a major ruling in favor of public displays of the commandments, and it is a ruling that could have widespread repercussions.

It was also a rebuke to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

The small Commandments display - roughly the size of a sheet of paper- was posted in Mercer County Courthouse a few years ago among other historical documents, such as the Magna Carta and Mayflower Compact.

But ACLU sued, calling it a violation of separation of church and state.

A panel of judges from the Sixth Circuit Federal Appeals Court ruled in late December that the commandments display was okay because the other historical documents were posted too.

And the judges also blasted the ACLU''s view of "separation of church and state," saying, "This extra-constitutional construct has grown tiresome. The First Amendment does not demand a wall of separation between church and state. Our nation's history is replete with governmental acknowledgment and in some cases, accommodation of religion."

Jay Sekulow of the American Center For Law and Justice (ACLJ) said the ruling is could set a major precedent for other Ten Commandments cases.

"I think this case has huge precedental value,” Sekulow said, “because it's the first case decided ‘after’ the Supreme Court's decisions, the conflicting decisions on the Ten Commandments. And by saying that the ACLU's argument was tiresome and by disregarding and disagreeing with their premise, I think it sends a big message that this idea of strict separation of church and state, and by removing every acknowledgment of God from public life, is not going to be tolerated by this court of appeals. And I think ultimately, as the Supreme Court begins to shift, by the Supreme Court as well."