WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Liberty Counsel filed a Petition with the United States Supreme Court, asking the Court to hear a Kentucky case involving the display of the Ten Commandments together with other historical documents in school buildings in Harlan County, Kentucky, and in courthouses in McCreary and Pulaski County, Kentucky. In December, 2003, a divided three-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a preliminary ruling issued by a Kentucky federal court that required the removal of the Ten Commandments from the historical documents display. The three counties are represented by Liberty Counsel, a national public interest law firm dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of human life and the traditional family.

The case involves two courthouses in Pulaski and McCreary Counties which displayed the Ten Commandments, the Declaration of Independence, the Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights and other historical documents. The Harlan County School Board created a similar display which also includes a limited public forum where the community can post additional historical documents. The displays began as a stand-alone Ten Commandments document. The displays were later changed to include some historical documents with excerpted religious quotes. The displays then were changed to include other historical documents in their entirety. Significantly, the school display, unlike the two courthouses, established a public forum where private citizens could post additional historical documents. The display in all three counties is intended to display historical documents and symbols that played a significant role in the founding of our system of law and government.

The Petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, available on Liberty Counsel’s website, urges the Supreme Court to take the Kentucky case in order to resolve a conflict among the federal circuit courts over the constitutionality of the display of the Ten Commandments. Since the Supreme Court decided Stone v. Graham in 1980, where it held that a display of the Ten Commandments alone in a Kentucky schoolroom was unconstitutional, there have been 28 cases challenging displays of the Ten Commandments, with 24 of those since 1999. The Supreme Court has declined to hear a Ten Commandments case 6 times – 4 times alone since 2001. In 2001, Justices Rehnquist, Scalia and Thomas dissented from the Court’s refusal to hear a Ten Commandments case arising out of Indiana. The three Justices argued that the federal courts were divided over the issue of the display of the Ten Commandments and that the Supreme Court should take up a Ten Commandments case to establish clarity. Currently, 4 federal circuit courts and one state Supreme Court hold that displays of the Ten Commandments are constitutional, while 3 federal circuit courts hold that such displays are unconstitutional.

Mat Staver, President and General Counsel of Liberty Counsel, stated, “It is time for the United States Supreme Court to uphold the constitutionality of a display containing the Ten Commandments. Our history is replete with references to the Ten Commandments. There is no question that the Ten Commandments played a significant role in the origin of American law and government and that they may be constitutionally displayed for their historical significance.” Staver continued, “The lower federal courts are in a hopeless morass of confusion on the issue of the constitutionality of the Ten Commandments. We are hopeful that the Supreme Court will accept this case and uphold the constitutionality of these displays.”