March 11, 2002
High Court won't hear commandments case
___WASHINGTON (ABP)--For the second time in less than a year, the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a case that could have cleared up confusion over the issue of government-supported displays of the Ten Commandments.
___The high court did not comment in its refusal to hear a challenge to a lower court's ruling banning one such display in Indiana.
___A group of civil libertarians in the state sued Gov. Frank O'Bannon over plans to erect a monument depicting the Ten Commandments on the grounds of the state capitol in Indianapolis. The Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the proposed monument, saying it would create an unconstitutional government endorsement of religion.
___The 7-foot granite statue was to replace an earlier Ten Commandments monument that stood on the capitol grounds since the 1950s but was removed in 1991 after being defaced by vandals.
___Last May, the justices also refused to hear an appeal by the city of Elkhart, Ind., to a similar ruling by the Seventh Circuit. That court ruled that a display of the Ten Commandments at the city's municipal building violated the religious-liberty protections of the First Amendment because it endorsed religion.
___The Supreme Court routinely declines to comment when it refuses to hear cases. In a rare move, however, three conservative justices issued a written dissent to the refusal to hear the Elkhart appeal last spring. Chief Justice William Rehnquist, joined by Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, said the city's display "simply reflects the Ten Commandments' role in the development of our legal system."
___Supporters of government displays of the Ten Commandments often argue that the displays are constitutional because they honor the commandments as a legal document rather than as a religious one.
___Despite the Seventh Circuit rulings and rulings in other regional U.S. appeals courts striking down government-sponsored Ten Commandments displays, lower court rulings in some parts of the country have gone the other way. This means that such displays could be considered legal in some parts of the country but illegal in others. The Supreme Court is the only legal entity with the authority to resolve the differences.
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