ACLJ Asks Federal Appeals Court to Overturn Decision Ordering Removal of Ten Commandments Monument in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

News Editors

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 13, 2004

The American Center for Law and Justice, which specializes in constitutional law, today asked a federal appeals court to overturn a decision by a federal district court ordering the removal of a Ten Commandments monument in La Crosse, Wisconsin. The ACLJ, which represents the Fraternal Order of Eagles (FOE) in the case, today filed a brief asserting that the monument is constitutional and that the district court decision is legally flawed.

"It is clear that the monument and the land it sits on is legally owned by a private organization - The Eagles - and that such an arrangement does not violate the Establishment Clause," said Francis J. Manion, Senior Counsel of the ACLJ, which represents the FOE. "The city and the Eagles acted appropriately and legally with respect to the sale of the monument and land. The sale represents no constitutional violation and the solution reached by both the city and Eagles clearly follows existing appeals court precedent that is sound and constitutional. We are hopeful the appeals court will reverse the district court and remove the cloud hanging over the future of monument in La Crosse."

In February, U.S. District Court Judge Barbara B. Crabb ruled that the August 2002 sale of the monument and the land it sits on by the city to the FOE violated the Establishment Clause because the "sale itself demonstrated a preference for the religious message of the monument . . . ."

The court also ordered the city and the FOE "to take the necessary steps to undo the sale" and remove the monument from the city park.

The ACLJ today filed its appeal (posted at www.aclj.org) with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago. The brief contends the sale of the land "did not violate the Establishment Clause" and states that the monument sits "behind two fences and six signs proclaiming it and the land it occupies to be the property of the Eagles and not the City."

The ACLJ contends that "the sale was valid under state law and the parties' post-sale fencing and signing of the formerly City-owned property effectively terminated any previous unlawful endorsement of religion. The district court failed to follow controlling Seventh Circuit precedent in reaching a contrary conclusion."

The ACLJ is asking the appeals court to reach the same conclusion that it did in a similar case when the appeals court determined in 2000 that it was valid and appropriate for the city of Marshfield, Wisconsin to sell a statue of Jesus to a private landowner as long as it was made clear to the public that the city no longer owned the statue. The ACLJ represented the city of Marshfield in that case. The appeals court concluded that ". . . a sale of real property is an effective way for a public body to end its inappropriate endorsement of religion."

Michael Dean, an attorney in Waukesha, WI, is acting as co-counsel with the ACLJ in the La Crosse case.

The ACLJ last week convinced the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit to vacate a decision by one of its three-judge panels that declared a monument containing the text of the Commandments in Plattsmouth, NE to be unconstitutional. The appeals court vacated the decision and agreed to rehear the case. The ACLJ is involved in numerous cases nationwide defending displays of the Ten Commandments. Based in Washington, D.C., the ACLJ specializes in constitutional law.