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Monday, June 27, 2005

Ten Commandments state capitol grounds display ruling [US SC]
9:43 PM ET

Van Orden v. Perry, United States Supreme Court, June 27, 2005 [ruling 5-4 that the Ten Commandments can be displayed on the grounds of a state capitol building]. Excerpt from the opinion, by Chief Justice Rehnquist:
The placement of the Ten Commandments monument on the Texas State Capitol grounds is a far more passive use of those texts than was the case in Stone, where the text confronted elementary school students every day. Indeed, Van Orden, the petitioner here, apparently walked by the monument for a number of years before bringing this lawsuit. The monument is therefore also quite different from the prayers involved in Schempp and Lee v. Weisman. Texas has treated her Capitol grounds monuments as representing the several strands in the State’s political and legal history. The inclusion of the Ten Commandments monument in this group has a dual significance, partaking of both religion and government. We cannot say that Texas’ display of this monument violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
Read the full text of the opinion here [PDF]. Reported in JURIST’s Paper Chase here.



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