ACLJ Pleased Appeals Court Rejects Rehearing Request & Upholds Constitutionality of Ten Commandments Display in Kentucky Case.

WASHINGTON -- The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), specializing in constitutional law, today said it is pleased that a federal appeals court has rejected a request to rehear a Ten Commandments case out of Kentucky which upholds the constitutionality of a Commandments display in Mercer County. The ACLJ represents Mercer County in the case. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit voted 9-to-5 not to revisit a December 2005 decision by a three-judge panel upholding the constitutionality of the display.

"It's very clear that the full appeals court believes that its three-judge panel ruled correctly in upholding the constitutionality of this display," said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ, which represents Mercer County in defending the Commandments display. "This is an important defeat for the ACLU and other groups that are committed to removing our religious heritage and traditions from the public square. If this case is appealed to the Supreme Court, we stand ready to defend the display and remain confident that the constitutionality of the display will prevail."

In December 2005, a three-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit voted unanimously rejecting the ACLU's argument that the display - which includes the Commandments posted along with other historical documents in the county courthouse - violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

In that opinion, Circuit Judge Suhrheinrich said that the ACLU's "repeated reference 'to the separation of church and state' ... has grown tiresome. The First Amendment does not demand a wall of separation between church and state." The court said that a reasonable observer of Mercer County's display would appreciate "the role religion has played in our governmental institutions, and finds it historically appropriate and traditionally acceptable for a state to include religious influences, even in the form of sacred texts, in honoring American traditions."

Led by Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow, the American Center for Law and Justice is the nation's leading national public interest law firm defending religious liberty. The ACLJ specializes in constitutional law and is based in Washington, D.C. and is online at www.aclj.org.