ACLJ Asks Supreme Court to Take Ohio Ten Commandments Case.

WASHINGTON -- The American Center for Law and Justice, specializing in constitutional law, today asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take a case out of Ohio involving the public display of the Ten Commandments and overturn a decision by a federal appeals court declaring the display unconstitutional.

"It is an undisputable fact that the Ten Commandments played a significant role in the development of our legal system in this country," said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ, which is representing the Ohio school district. "We believe the federal appeals court got it wrong and that the Supreme Court now needs to step in to clarify an increasingly confusing area of the law. Nothing in our constitution or the Supreme Court's interpretation of it require that high school students be shielded from exposure to things religious. And in the Adams County case - the displays merely recognize the fact that religion has played an enormous role in the development of civilization and our legal system. We are hopeful the Supreme Court takes this case and overturns the federal appeals court decision."

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a decision in January declaring the display of the Ten Commandments - along with other historical documents - outside four high schools in Adams County, Ohio to be unconstitutional.

The Sixth Circuit refused to reconsider its decision and today the ACLJ filed a petition for writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the Adams County/Ohio Valley School Board asking the high court to take the case and overturn the appeals court decision.

The ACLJ represents the school board in defending against a 1999 lawsuit that challenged monuments of the Ten Commandments that were placed outside four high schools. The school board included a disclaimer that the monuments did not endorse religion. In 2002, the school board added a display to the schools entitled "Foundations of Law and Government" -- a display that included monuments highlighting the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Magna Carta, and the Code of Justinian. The school board said the display was intended to "inform Adams County/Ohio Valley high school students about some of the essential documents that the board believes form the foundation of American law and government." A federal district court ruled against the school district in June 2002 saying the displays were unconstitutional. The federal court ordered the monuments of the Ten Commandments removed, which occurred in June 2003. And, the federal appeals court upheld the lower court ruling in January 2004.

In its petition (posted online at www.aclj.org) to the Supreme Court, the ACLJ asks the high court to take the case because the decision by the Sixth Circuit conflicts with other decisions involving the display of the Ten Commandments in the Third, Fifth, and Tenth Circuits as well as the Colorado Supreme Court. A conflict in the federal circuits often results in the Supreme Court taking a case to resolve conflicting court decisions.

The ACLJ is involved in numerous cases throughout the country defending the public display of the Ten Commandments. The American Center for Law and Justice specializes in constitutional law and is based in Washington, D.C. The website address is www.aclj.org.