Washington D.C., Oct 12, 2004 / 22:00 pm
The United States Supreme Court announced yesterday that it would review previous court decisions from Kentucky and Texas over public displays of the Ten Commandments.
Former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, who had opposed the removal of a Ten Commandments monument in Alabama, told The Associated Press that he's glad the U.S. Supreme Court decided to review the two cases. But Moore said they don't get at the core issue, which is the acknowledgment of God.
Moore predicted the Supreme Court would uphold the Texas display because it was "secularized" from the beginning by nearby historical artifacts, but will reject the Kentucky display because other documents weren't put around it until it was challenged in court.
Moore's monument in Alabama, which courts ordered he remove, was displayed alone in the rotunda of the state judicial building.
"The difference between those cases and my case is the acknowledgment of a sovereign God. It's that simple," Moore said at a news conference.
Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Moore's appeals of the removal of the monument and of his ouster from office for ignoring the court’s order.
Family Research Council president Tony Perkins also welcomed the news of the Supreme Court hearing.
“Publicly displaying of the Ten Commandments recognizes the significant historical contribution made to America and the foundation the Ten Commandments have served to our legal system,” he said in a statement.
"It is naive and incorrect to deny that religion has had a significant historical role in defining the character of our nation,” he added.