Chicago, IL – All eleven judges of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, after being polled, voted to not rehear the Ten Commandments decision of Books v. Elkhart County, Indiana. On March 25, 2005, a three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit issued an opinion upholding the Ten Commandments as part of a display known as the Foundations of American Law and Government. Elkhart County is represented by Mathew D. Staver, President and General Counsel of Liberty Counsel, who argued before the United States Supreme Court on March 2, 2005, in defense of an identical Ten Commandments display posted in two Kentucky courthouses.

After Elkhart County posted the Foundations of American Law and Government display, the ACLU filed suit. The federal district court, in 2004, ruled that the display was unconstitutional. Liberty Counsel argued in defense of the display before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals last year following the Supreme Court’s decision to review the Ten Commandments displays in Kentucky and Texas. The display in Elkhart County, Indiana, is identical to the Kentucky displays in McCreary and Pulaski Counties. After Mr. Staver argued the Kentucky Ten Commandments case on March 2, 2005, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion upholding the Elkhart County Ten Commandments display. The ACLU then asked the full panel of eleven judges to rehear the case. In denying this request, the court issued an opinion that stated, “No judge in active service has requested a vote on the petition for rehearing en banc, and all of the judges on the original panel have voted to deny rehearing. It is therefore ordered that the petition for rehearing, with suggestion for rehearing en banc, is DENIED.”

A decision on the Ten Commandments case argued before the Supreme Court on March 2 is expected anytime between now and the end of June when the Court’s term ends.

Commenting on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals’ recent decision, Staver said: “I’m pleased that all of the judges on the court of appeals agreed to let the decision regarding the Ten Commandments stand. This ruling has cleared the way to display the Ten Commandments in Elkhart County. I have advised the Elkhart County officials that they can now repost the display. Displaying the Ten Commandments is a permissible accommodation and acknowledgment of religion and its role in our society. Posting the Ten Commandments in public places is a permissible acknowledgment, rather than an establishment, of religion.”