Today, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals handed the ACLU another defeat regarding a Kentucky display of the Ten Commandments, voting 19-5 to uphold the Foundations of American Law and Government display. The case is ACLU of Kentucky v. Mercer County, Kentucky. Liberty Counsel represents Mercer County.

The Foundations of American Law and Government display in the county courthouse includes the Ten Commandments, the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, the Magna Charta, the Star-Spangled Banner, the National Motto, the Preamble to the Kentucky Constitution, the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution, and a picture of Lady Justice. This display is identical to the one Liberty Counsel defended at the Supreme Court last year in two other Kentucky counties, McCreary and Pulaski. The litigation in those two cases continues and may end up again at the High Court.

The original, three-judge panel in Mercer County adopted the reasoning of the Seventh Circuit in Books v. Elkhart County, a Liberty Counsel case where the Seventh Circuit upheld an identical display. The Sixth Circuit rejected the ACLU's "repeated reference to 'the separation of church and state.' This extra-constitutional construct has grown tiresome. The First Amendment does not demand a wall of separation between church and state." The ACLU asked the full Court to rehear the case. Today, the Court voted 19-5 to allow the decision to stand.

Mathew D. Staver, President and General Counsel of Liberty Counsel, hailed today's decision as a great victory. "Today's decision begins to turn the tide against the ACLU, which has been on a search-and-destroy mission to remove all vestiges of our religious history from public view." Staver added, "Whether the ACLU likes it or not, history is crystal clear that each one of the Ten Commandments played an important role in the founding of our system of law and government. Federal courts are beginning to rightfully reject extreme notions of 'separation of church and state.' It's about time that courts begin interpreting the Constitution consistent with its original purpose. With the changing of personnel at the U.S. Supreme Court, the trend toward a more historical approach to the First Amendment is well underway."

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