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High Court Bans Ten Commandments
After hearing the courts decision we decided to find out what those around Oklahoma City thought. You can hear these responses and more on the story when you watch the video.
Or you can read the story from CNN…
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Supreme Court handed down two 5-4 decisions Monday on displaying the Ten Commandments, allowing an exhibit at the Texas capitol and barring others at two Kentucky courthouses.
In the ruling on the Kentucky cases, the majority determined the displays violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment that sets down the principle of separation of church and state.
The amendment states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The court has usually interpreted this to mean government actions must have a "secular purpose."
Only one of the nine justices voted differently in the two cases. Justice Stephen Breyer, considered a moderate liberal, voted against the displays in Kentucky but in favor of the one in Texas.
The key difference, Breyer said, was that the Kentucky displays stemmed from a governmental effort "substantially to promote religion," and the Texas display served a "mixed but primarily non-religious purpose."
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, a moderate conservative, voted against the displays in both states and cast the swing vote in the Kentucky decision, which stopped short of forbidding such exhibits on all court or government property.
The decision allows the court some leeway to determine the appropriateness of displays on a case-by-case basis.
This was the first time the high court dealt with the issue of public displays of the Ten Commandments since 1980, when it ruled against them at schools in Kentucky.
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