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« Combating Voter Fraud | Main | The Resurrection » March 26, 2005Commandment decisionYesterday the Seventh Circuit held a display of the framed text of the King James version of the Ten Commandments in a county building was constitutional. It was one of nine historical pieces that make up a "Foundations of American Law and Government Display" in the County Administration Building in Elkhart County, Indiana. You can access a pdf version of the ruling here. The Goshen News offers some background in an earlier article titled "Ten Commandments ordered removed from county display." An earlier Ten Commandments monument in Elkhart County met a different fate in the Seventh Circuit in late 2000. It will be interesting to see if this case squares with two forthcoming Supreme Court decisions that will address the issue. Click here for my preview of Van Orden v. Perry and McCreary County v. ACLU of Kentucky. Posted by Joshua Claybourn at March 26, 2005 10:35 AM CommentsIIRC, the 7th circut is consistant with past Supreme Court rulings where the Ten Commandments as part of a historic-legal-roots display is legit, but a solo display isn't. The two that they're dealing with now are in the solo catagory, although one has been moved into one of those legal-roots displays. Posted by: Mark Byron at March 26, 2005 04:55 PM | permalink The legal argument that should be made is that The Declaration of Independence is our founding document, NOT the constitution. The Constituion was a system of laws, checks and balances, indicating that sovereignty had already been attained, and documented in the Declaration of Independence, which would make THAT the nations founding document. Lets see someone say God isn't mentioned in that document. Scott Ledbetter, Pine Bluff, Ar. Posted by: Scott Ledbetter at March 26, 2005 06:20 PM | permalink You'll have a hard time finding positive references to a Judeo-Christian God in anything written by Thomas Jefferson, I suspect. He seems to have been a Deist who regarded Jesus Christ as a notable philosopher. I believe he regarded the religion that cropped up around Jesus as being polluted by charlatans. The rest of the Founders had mixed views, but Enlightenment thinking was prevalent. Posted by: Doug at March 26, 2005 07:11 PM | permalink The text of the United States Constitution as well as precedent is clear that the supreme law of the land is the Constitution, not the Declaration. The Declaration is not a legal document with any power over the federal government. It is a statement of principles of the revolution by the Continental Congress , a regime that no longer exists. |
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