Court rules against commandments display in Kentucky. (Around The States).

A federal appeals court has ruled that the state of Kentucky may not legally endorse the Ten Commandments with a monument on the Capitol grounds.

On Oct. 9, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the First Amendment's separation of church and state prohibits the state from promoting the religious code on state property.

The controversy has been ongoing for decades. A Commandments monument was originally erected in 1971 after the Fraternal Order of Eagles donated it to the state. It was removed in 1988 to make way for a new heating and cooling plant. Two years ago, the Kentucky legislature passed a resolution calling on the state to get the tablet out of storage and erect it on the capitol lawn in Frankfort.

A lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky and several local religious leaders successfully challenged the effort to re-erect the religious display. Supporters of government-sponsored religion hoped to alleviate constitutional concerns by featuring the Decalogue with other historical texts, but in Adland v. Russ, the 6th Circuit rejected the plan.

"In our view, this indicates that the other components of the display are an afterthought, at best, secondary in importance to the Ten Commandments, and suggests that the Commonwealth acted with a predominantly religious purpose," Chief Judge Boyce Martin wrote for the court majority.

The decision will send lawmakers back to the drawing board to create a new way to promote the Commandments on government property. Sen. Albert Robinson (R-London), who sponsored the original monument resolution, told the Associated Press, "We think this will help us to start over."