Tulsa World: Appeals court rules Ten Commandments monument violates Constitution

Home > News > Article

Comment

RSS

Bookmark

Appeals court rules Ten Commandments monument violates Constitution

The Ten Commandments monument on the lawn of the Haskell County Courthouse in Stigler. An appeals court ruled Monday that a Ten Commandments monument at the county courthouse violates the Constitution because its primary effect is to endorse a religion. (Tulsa World file)

By ROBERT BOCZKIEWICZ, World correspondent and SARA PLUMMER, World Staff Writer
Published: 6/8/2009 4:08 PM
Last Modified: 6/8/2009 8:59 PM

Related story: Henry OKs Ten Commandments bill

DENVER -- An appeals court ruled Monday that a Ten Commandments monument at the county courthouse in Stigler violates the Constitution because its primary effect is to endorse a religion.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 3-0 in a challenge to the monument brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma and by a county resident.

"We hold that the [Haskell County commissioners'] actions in authorizing and maintaining the monument . . . had the impermissible principal or primary effect of endorsing religion in violation of the Establishment Clause" of the Constitution, the judges wrote in a 52-page decision.

Haskell County Commissioner Mitch Worsham said he didn't have a comment at this time about the decision.

A message left for Commissioner Kenneth Short Jr., has not been returned and Commissioner Paul Storie could not be reached for comment.

On May 18, Gov. Brad Henry signed a measure to place a privately funded monument of the Ten Commandments at the Capitol.

The week before, the Senate gave final approval to House Bill 1330, By Rep. Mike Ritze, R-Broken Arrow, and Sen. Randy Brogdon, R-Owasso.

The monument is to be placed where there are numerous monuments, the measure said.

The measure passed despite concerns that it could draw a costly legal challenge and could be interpreted as the state's endorsement of a religion.

"I am disappointed they ruled that," said Ritze. "I don't know that much about the Haskell County display."

Ritze is the author of House Bill 1330, which calls for the placement of a privately funded Ten Commandments monument at the Capitol.

Ritze, who will provide the funding for it, said the Oklahoma law was based on a law in Texas which withstood constitutional scrutiny.

He believes the Oklahoma law will survive a legal challenge.

Henry, who signed the measure into law, declined to comment on the court's decision.

Register for Latest News Alerts: Every day at 4 p.m, get the day's top headlines sent directly to your inbox. It's free and easy to set up. Already a registered user? Click here to visit your profile to sign up. For new registration, click here.

By ROBERT BOCZKIEWICZ, World correspondent and SARA PLUMMER, World Staff Writer

Comment

RSS

Bookmark

Reader Comments

Reader comments for this story have been moved to the most updated version of the story, now under the headline "Ten Commandments lose in court," which was published on 6/9/2009. So far, 219 comments have been made.