In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.
ACLU loses 10 Commandments fight
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
ACLU loses 10 Commandments fight
Kentucky judge rules Decalogue OK when posted with other documents
Posted: August 23, 2002
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Jon Dougherty
c 2002 WorldNetDaily.com
A federal court in Lexington, Ky., has ruled that the Ten Commandments can remain on display in the Mercer County courthouse, rejecting an attempt by the American Civil Liberties Union to have them removed.
"This is a major victory for the people of Mercer County and for all Americans who don't buy into the ACLU's extreme misrepresentation of our Constitution," said Francis J. Manion, senior counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, which argued the case for the county.
The ACLU filed suit to have the Ten Commandments removed from a display including other historical and legal texts, but U.S. District Judge Karl Forrester denied the legal group's motion for a preliminary injunction yesterday.
"The First Amendment was never intended to remove all mention of God or religion from the public square," said Manion. "The Supreme Court and many other courts have long recognized the foundational role of the Ten Commandments in the development of our legal system."
The court held that government officials who display the Ten Commandments for their historical value have a permissible secular purpose for doing so, said ACLJ officials.
The display of the commandments with other historical and legal documents "makes clear that government is displaying [them] because of their undoubted secular importance and influence," the law center said.
Forrester, in his ruling, noted that the historical influence of the commandments was beyond "rational dispute," even though "plaintiffs might wish it were so."
"But plaintiffs' wishes cannot change history," Forrester wrote.
"With today's decision, we see an important development and a critical recognition of the constitutionality of such a display," said Manion. "It's clear the people of Mercer County understand the difference between 'acknowledgement' of religion and 'establishment' of religion."
It was not known if the ACLU would appeal the ruling.
The Virginia Beach, Va.-based ACLJ said it is currently involved in 15 other cases involving display of the commandments
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=28701
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Kentucky judge rules Decalogue OK when posted with other documents
Posted: August 23, 2002
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Jon Dougherty
c 2002 WorldNetDaily.com
A federal court in Lexington, Ky., has ruled that the Ten Commandments can remain on display in the Mercer County courthouse, rejecting an attempt by the American Civil Liberties Union to have them removed.
"This is a major victory for the people of Mercer County and for all Americans who don't buy into the ACLU's extreme misrepresentation of our Constitution," said Francis J. Manion, senior counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, which argued the case for the county.
The ACLU filed suit to have the Ten Commandments removed from a display including other historical and legal texts, but U.S. District Judge Karl Forrester denied the legal group's motion for a preliminary injunction yesterday.
"The First Amendment was never intended to remove all mention of God or religion from the public square," said Manion. "The Supreme Court and many other courts have long recognized the foundational role of the Ten Commandments in the development of our legal system."
The court held that government officials who display the Ten Commandments for their historical value have a permissible secular purpose for doing so, said ACLJ officials.
The display of the commandments with other historical and legal documents "makes clear that government is displaying [them] because of their undoubted secular importance and influence," the law center said.
Forrester, in his ruling, noted that the historical influence of the commandments was beyond "rational dispute," even though "plaintiffs might wish it were so."
"But plaintiffs' wishes cannot change history," Forrester wrote.
"With today's decision, we see an important development and a critical recognition of the constitutionality of such a display," said Manion. "It's clear the people of Mercer County understand the difference between 'acknowledgement' of religion and 'establishment' of religion."
It was not known if the ACLU would appeal the ruling.
The Virginia Beach, Va.-based ACLJ said it is currently involved in 15 other cases involving display of the commandments
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=28701
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Comments
"The powers delegated by the proposed constitution to the federal governmentare few and defined, and will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace negotiation, and foreign commerce"
-James Madison
Rugster
Toujours Pret