Press Release

Humanists Hopeful Supreme Court Will Keep Public Places Free of Religious Indoctrination

For Immediate Release - Contact: Roy Speckhardt (202) 238-9088

(Washington, DC, October 12, 2004) The Supreme Court announced today that it will hear two cases on the constitutionality of having the Ten Commandments displayed on government property.

“The Court’s announcement is a welcome surprise considering refusals in the past to hear such cases. With conflicting lower court decisions, a Supreme Court assessment has become essential to protect constitutional separation of religion and government,” says Tony Hileman executive director of the American Humanist Association.

Hileman continued, “Displaying the Ten Commandments blatantly violates the First Amendment ban on government promotion of religion.”

The Court will review two cases. In a case originating in Kentucky, the Declaration of Independence, the Magna Carta, and the Bill of Rights were posted near a Ten Commandments display added in 1999, whereas in a case originating in Texas, a Ten Commandments monument was constructed in 1961 and now sits near a tribute to African American legislators, a Confederate plaque, and a plaque commemorating the war with Mexico.

AHA president and constitutional lawyer Mel Lipman added, “Considering that it was just last week when the Justices rejected an appeal from former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore (who lost his job after defying a federal order to dismantle a Ten Commandments monument), we’re hopeful that this announcement indicates the Court’s willingness to make the obvious clear for the lower courts: government displays of the Ten Commandments are unconstitutional, whether they are new or old, and whether they stand alone or next to secular displays.

“To endorse a sectarian point of view is not the duty of government. Neither the age of unconstitutional displays nor the proximity of them to constitutional ones should have a bearing on the fact that state sponsored religious displays are unconstitutional,” Lipman concluded.

The American Humanist Association is the oldest and largest Humanist organization in the nation. The AHA is dedicated to ensuring a voice for those with a positive nontheistic outlook, based on reason and experience, which embraces all of humanity .

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