Displays Including the Ten Commandments

McCreary County Display

McCreary County Courthouse Historical Display

Pulaski County Display

Pulaski County Courthouse Historical Display

The displays in both courthouses contained the following ten documents placed in eleven equal size frames:

(1) The full text of the Declaration of Independence
(2) The entire lyrics of the Star Spangled Banner
(3) The full text of the Mayflower Compact
(4) The full text of the Bill of Rights
(5) The full text of the Magna Carta (contained in two equal frames).
(6) The complete National Motto
(7) The entire Preamble to the Kentucky Constitution
(8) The full text of the Ten Commandments
(9) A picture of Lady Justice
(10) An explanatory document entitled "The Foundations of Law and Government Display" explaining the significance of each of the documents in the display

The explanatory document states that the "display contains documents that played a significant role in the foundation of our system of law and government." Among other descriptions, the explanatory document describes the Declaration of Independence as "[p]erhaps the single most important document in American history." The Magna Carta is described as, "By signing Magna Carta, King John brought himself and England’s future rulers within the rule of law." The document also describes the Ten Commandments by stating:

The Ten Commandments have profoundly influenced the formation of Western legal thought and the formation of our country. That influence is clearly seen in the Declaration of Independence which declared that "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." The Ten Commandments provide the moral background of the Declaration of Independence and the foundation of our legal tradition.

None of the documents are set apart or have any greater prominence than any other document. Each of the documents is placed in a frame that is exactly the same size. The Ten Commandments is only one of eleven equal sized frames. Each of the County Courthouses also contains numerous other historical documents on display in addition to the Third Display. In McCreary County, there are 58 historical documents posted in the Judge’s office, 41 in the waiting room, 124 in the side entrance to the courthouse, 33 in the fiscal courtroom, and 28 in the conference room.Likewise, the Pulaski County courthouse, as part of its 200th anniversary of the County, posted numerous historical documents in the Judge’s office, in the waiting room, in the side entrance to the courthouse, in the fiscal courtroom, and in the conference room.

Ky District Court - Ten Commandments

2001 -- Mat Staver at a press conference after a hearing at the district court in
London, Kentucky, where the case was originally brought to challenge the
historical displays that were posted in McCreary and Pulaski County