Oklahoma Supreme Court says Ten Commandments monument must go from Capitol grounds
Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt said he believes the court "got it wrong" and filed a petition for rehearing — a move that will at least delay removal of the monument.
The Ten Commandments monument must be removed from the grounds of the state Capitol, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
Justices ruled 7-2 the monument must go because the state
constitution prohibits the use of public property to directly or
indirectly benefit a “church denomination or system of religion.”
The
decision touched off a furor at the Capitol with several lawmakers
calling for impeachment of the seven justices who voted in the majority.Attorney General Scott Pruitt said he believes the court "got it wrong" and filed a petition for rehearing — a move that will at least delay removal of the monument.
If that fails, Pruitt called for changing the state constitution.
Not everyone was unhappy, however.
Brady Henderson, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma, which filed the lawsuit, said he was "very pleased with the decision."
"I think it's the right decision and affirms the plain meaning of the state Constitution which has always stood for the idea that it isn't the government's business to tell us what are right or wrong choices when it comes to faith,” he said.
Henderson said he doesn’t expect Pruitt’s request for reconsideration to be successful because the attorney general would have to change the minds of at least three justices.
The state Supreme Court ruling overturned a decision by Oklahoma County District Judge Thomas Prince.
State Rep. Mike Ritze, whose family bought the original Ten Commandments monument for placement on Capitol grounds, called Tuesday’s ruling a “disappointment.”
“It is a surprise and a disappointment because an identical monument that sits at the Texas state Capitol and numerous other state and federal buildings has withstood two Supreme Court challenges,” said Ritze, R-Broken Arrow.
Ritze said the Oklahoma Legislature passed a law saying this monument was a historical display, and courts have ruled such displays are allowed.
Some lawmakers used stronger language in denouncing the decision.
“Our state Supreme Court is playing politics by issuing rulings contrary to the constitution, and contrary to the will of the clear majority of Oklahoma voters,” said state Rep. Kevin Calvey, R-Oklahoma City, one of several state lawmakers who issued a news release calling for the impeachment of the justices who said the monument should be removed. “These Supreme Court justices are nothing more than politicians in black robes, masquerading as objective jurists. This ruling is the court engaging in judicial bullying of the people of Oklahoma, pure and simple. It is time that the people chose jurists.”
Joining Calvey in issuing the news release were state Reps. Casey Murdock, R-Felt; Lewis Moore, R-Edmond; Dan Fisher, R-Yukon; George Faught, R-Muskogee; Jason Murphey, R-Guthrie; Paul Wesselhoft, R-Moore; Sally Kern, R-Oklahoma City; Sean Roberts, R-Hominy; Mark McBride, R-Moore; and David Derby, R-Owasso.
“Our country is under assault from an unelected judiciary that is continuously trying to force cultural change upon us,” state Rep. Mike Sanders, R-Kingfisher, said in a separate news release. “First, we had the U.S. Supreme Court counter a long tradition of marriage law this month. Now the Oklahoma Supreme Court is going against higher court rulings on the use of Ten Commandment monuments, saying the Capitol monument is unconstitutional. We cannot and will not stand for this.”
Pruitt said if a rehearing fails, the state constitution may need to be changed. “If Article 2, Section 5, is going to be construed in such a manner by the court, it will be necessary to repeal it,” he said.
In his request for rehearing, Pruitt argued that Tuesday’s decision conflicts with a 1972 state Supreme Court decision that it was permissible to construct a 50-foot-tall lighted Latin cross on Oklahoma City public property at the fairgrounds. The decision also calls into question much of the artwork adorning the state Capitol grounds, such as American Indian artwork that may have spiritual symbolism, Pruitt said.
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Those Ten Commandments have to come down before the Baphomet statue is set up at the OK statehouse on July 25 2015. This obscenity features the Goat in teaching pose after George Washington statue.
ReplyDeleteThey probably want to set up Anubis at the Court blding.