Judge rules in favor of keeping Ten Commandments monument in Utah Park

Jun 1, 2004 / 22:00 pm

The Thomas More Law Center announced on Tuesday that the Society of Separationists failed in its efforts to remove a Ten Commandments monument that has stood since 1971 in a public park in Pleasant Grove City, Utah.

Utah federal district court Judge Bruce S. Jenkins dismissed the lawsuit brought by the Separationists against the City and several of its officials.

According to a press release from the TMLC, Judge Jenkins ruled that the display of a Ten Commandments monument on public property does not violate the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution.

He noted that the Ten Commandments are an "acknowledgment of one historic source of guidance and direction, one time-honored source of standards of human conduct."

The judge went on to explain that the public display of the Ten Commandments is "as much for the benefit and interest of the unchurched or non-religious as for the benefit of more than one evolving religious tradition," especially since the "'history of man is inseparable from the history of religion.'"

The Thomas More Law Center, a public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the American Center for Law and Justice office in New Hope, Kentucky, represented the City and its officials.

According to Edward L. White III, Associate Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center who handled the case, "We are pleased that the Ten Commandments monument will continue to stand in the public park in Pleasant Grove City, as it has for the past 33 years.”

“Clearly, the Ten Commandments can be displayed on public property without running afoul of the United States Constitution,” he added.

Richard Thompson, Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, commented, "Too many communities are intimidated by fear of legal fees into removing Ten Commandment displays without even a fight. Pleasant Grove is proof that communities can fight the atheists and win.”

“The Thomas More Law Center stands ready to defend cities in these situations without charge,” he concluded.