Boise, Idaho, Dec 8, 2005 / 22:00 pm
At press time, the Keep the Commandments Coalition was presenting arguments to the Idaho Supreme Court in favor of putting a voter initiative on the ballot, giving the citizens of Boise the right to vote on returning the Ten Commandments Monument to Julia Davis Park.
The hearing was scheduled for 10 a.m. this morning. The coalition is proposing a display that is identical to one that was ruled constitutional by a federal judge in 1995.
The court case was brought after the Boise City Council refused to put the initiative on the ballot. The city’s decision went against the will of more than 19,000 registered voters, who signed a petition to allow a vote on the issue.
"The city has used a legal technicality to deprive us of our right to vote. But the Idaho Supreme Court has said that the right to vote is our most 'cherished and fundamental right' and so we're optimistic that the court will rule in our favor,” said Bryan Fischer, the executive director of the Idaho Values Alliance and co-director of the Keep the Commandments Coalition.
If the coalition wins, this would be the nation's first voter initiative on the public display of the Ten Commandments.