NEWS: US Supreme Court splits on Display of Ten Commandments, page 1

posted on Jun, 27 2005 @ 11:09 AM

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Earlier today the US Supreme upheld the constitutionality of displaying the Ten Commandments outside of a courthouse, while they ruled that it is unconstitutional to display The Ten Commandments inside a courthouse saying they violated the doctrine of separation of church and state.

news.yahoo.com
A sharply divided Supreme Court on Monday upheld the constitutionality of displaying the Ten Commandments on government land, but drew the line on displays inside courthouses, saying they violated the doctrine of separation of church and state.

Sending dual signals in ruling on this issue for the first time in a quarter-century, the high court said that displays of the Ten Commandments — like their own courtroom frieze — are not inherently unconstitutional. But each exhibit demands scrutiny to determine whether it goes too far in amounting to a governmental promotion of religion, the court said in a case involving Kentucky courthouse exhibits.

In effect, the court said it was taking the position that issues of Ten Commandments displays in courthouses should be resolved on a case-by-case basis.

In that 5-4 ruling and another decision involving the positioning of a 6-foot granite monument of the Ten Commandments on the grounds of the Texas capitol, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was the swing vote. The second ruling, likewise, was by a 5-4 margin.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

Statues like this that were removed in Alabama and other states, can now take their place back in front of our courthouses.

While I am sure not everyone will be happy with this decision, one way to look at it is a win for both sides, at least one can walk up to a courthouse and see them before entering and that to me is a positive thing. I also agree on the case by case basis for displays inside a courthouse, although I am positive that groups such as the ACLU will not like either decision.

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kenshiro2012

posted on Jun, 27 2005 @ 11:13 AM

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The difference is that the ruling for Kentucky, which they turned down, was for the display of the 10 Commandments by itself and that it oversteps the bounds of the constitution.
The second ruling, the one for Texas, which they upheld, was for the display of the 10 Commandments on federal property that already had monuments to things like the Texas Rangers.
Hope that this clarifies it a bit for you.

Nygdan

posted on Jun, 27 2005 @ 12:50 PM

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Should be interesting to see what happens when courts in Detroit have islamic versese put up outside of them, proclaiming that all law if from Allah and his prophet mohammed.

kenshiro2012

posted on Jun, 27 2005 @ 12:52 PM

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Not a problem. What is good for the goose is good for the gander. As long as they use the same type of arguments that it was not for promoting a religion but it having somekind of historical significance.

thematrix

posted on Jun, 27 2005 @ 01:01 PM

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If I'm not mistaken, the main thing people have against Islamic country's is that they are ruled under Islamic law. Theocratic law.

Imho, displaying and refering to the 10 commandments in courthouses in the western/free/democratic world, makes us hypocrits of the worst kind.

blanketgirl

posted on Jun, 27 2005 @ 01:10 PM

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Originally posted by thematrix
If I'm not mistaken, the main thing people have against Islamic country's is that they are ruled under Islamic law. Theocratic law.

Imho, displaying and refering to the 10 commandments in courthouses in the western/free/democratic world, makes us hypocrits of the worst kind.

I would say that is partly true... but many of the things that bother people about Islamic countries are a combination of religious law and local custom...
For example, modesty is the religious law, but some women cover all but their eyes, other Islamic women walk around covering their hair... the difference comes from the long traditions of the people both pre-and post Islam.

Many of the rules viewed as crazy religious law are local custom mixed with religious law, which in reality whether or not we like it US laws are a combination of custom and religious (generally Christian) law. We are just as crazy to outsiders.
We are hypocrites when we give Islamic countries a hard time for doing the same thing just with a different religion, which is what we do every day.

shots

posted on Jun, 27 2005 @ 01:23 PM

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I am not sure but assume the reason they were upset or disagreed about the ones used in Kentucky was because they were specifically the King James version at least according to CNN.

In the Kentucky cases, two Kentucky counties tried to justify separately posting copies of the King James version of the Ten Commandments on the walls of their courthouses.

CNN News

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