ACLJ Welcomes the Appeal of the City of La Crosse, Wisconsin in Ten Commandments Case.

Business Editors

LA CROSSE, Wisc.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 13, 2004

The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm, said today it welcomes the decision by the city of La Crosse, Wisconsin to appeal a federal district court decision ordering the removal of the Ten Commandments monument in La Crosse. The ACLJ, which represents the Fraternal Order of Eagles (FOE) in the case, already has filed its appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit asking the court to overturn the district court ruling. The ACLJ represents the FOE in the case, a private organization which owns the monument.

In a decision issued February 3, 2004 in Madison, 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 of La Crosse to the FOE violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment because the "sale itself demonstrated a preference for the religious message of the monument . . . ." In declaring the sale invalid, the court also ordered the city of La Crosse and the FOE "to take the necessary steps to undo the sale" and remove the monument from the city park.

"The fact that both parties - the city and the Eagles - are appealing this decision will be helpful in an effort to overturn this damaging decision," said Francis J. Manion, Senior Counsel of the ACLJ, which represents the FOE in the case.

Manion said: "We strongly disagree with the findings of the court that the sale in any way violated the constitution. In fact, this method of resolving such conflicts has already been approved by the federal appeals court in a case involving a religious statue on city property in Marshfield, Wisconsin. The city of La Crosse and the FOE were simply following the sound legal precedent set in the Marshfield decision. We are confident that the appeals court will reach the same conclusion in La Crosse as it did in Marshfield. We welcome the appeal of the city and look forward to presenting a compelling argument before the appeals court."

The ACLJ filed its notice of appeal on February 4th and last night the La Crosse Common Council voted 13-2 to file a separate appeal on behalf of the interests of the city in the case.

In preparing its brief for the appeal, the ACLJ will cite the findings of the appeals court in the Marshfield case which 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 this case.

The ACLJ is an international public interest law firm specializing in constitutional law and is based in Washington, D.C. and its website address is www.aclj.org.