Court Splits on 10 Commandments Displays (ALLOWED at state capitols) [View All]

[gauguin57]

Edited with new breaking news (AP) headline... so, commandments CAN BE POSTED at state capitol buildings, but NOT at courthouses? I do not get this.

http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SCOTUS_TEN_COMMANDMENTS?SITE=JRC&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2005-06-27-11-20-40

Court Splits on Ten Commandments Displays

By HOPE YEN
Associated Press Writer


WASHINGTON (AP) -- A sharply divided Supreme Court on Monday upheld the constitutionality of displaying the Ten Commandments on government land, but drew the line on displays inside courthouses, saying they violated the doctrine of separation of church and state.

Sending dual signals in closely-watched cases, the high court said displays of the Ten Commandments - like their own courtroom frieze - are not inherently unconstitutional. But each exhibit demands scrutiny to determine whether it goes too far in amounting to a governmental promotin of religion, the court said in a case involving Kentucky courthouse exhibits.

In that 5-4 ruling and another ruling, involving the positioning of a 6-foot granite monument of the Ten Commandments on the grounds of the Texas capitol, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was the swing vote. The second ruling, likewise, was 5-4.

In a stinging dissent to the ruling involving Kentucky's courthouse exhibits, Justice Antonin Scalia declared: "What distinguishes the rule of law from the dictatorship of a shifting Supreme Court majority is the absolutely indispensable requirement that judicial opinions be grounded in consistently applied principle."