McCreary County v. ACLU
Seven individuals and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued three Kentucky counties (McCreary, Harlan, and Pulaski) alleging that they had erected framed copies of the Ten Commandments in county courthouses and schools, in violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Plaintiffs sought a declaration that the displays were unconstitutional, and an injunction preventing the counties from continuing their displays. After the lawsuits were filed, the counties changed their displays to include secular historical and legal documents, some of which were excerpted, in an attempt to bring them within the parameters of the First Amendment. The district court ordered that the displays be removed and that no similar displays be erected, and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the order.
The counties subsequently erected new displays containing additional secular historical and legal documents in their entirety, along with the Ten Commandments. The courthouse displays explained that the displayed documents had played a significant role in the founding of the American system of law and government. The school district displays contained similar documents and explanations.
Following these new displays, the plaintiffs filed a motion for a supplemental injunction requiring that the new displays be removed. The counties argued that the new displays were not similar to the previous displays, and contended that the "purpose for the display is to educate citizens of the county regarding some of the documents that played a significant role in the foundation of our system of law and government." The district court granted the supplemental injunction and ordered the removal of the displays.
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed, finding that the displays violated the Establishment Clause because (1) their purpose was predominantly religious and (2) they had the effect of endorsing religion. The court of appeals noted that the displays only purported to have a historical and secular purpose, but because they did not present the Ten Commandments objectively and integrate them with a secular message, they impermissibly conveyed a religious message.
Questions Presented:
1. Whether the Establishment Clause is violated by a privately donated display on government property that includes eleven equal size frames containing an
explanation of the display along with nine historical documents and symbols that played a role in the development of American law and government where only one of the framed documents is the Ten
Commandments and the remaining documents and symbols are secular.
2. Whether a prior display by the government in a courthouse containing the Ten Commandments that was enjoined by a court permanently taints and thereby precludes any future display by the same
government when the subsequent display articulates a secular purpose and where the Ten Commandments is a minority among numerous other secular historical documents and symbols.
3. Whether the Lemon test should be overruled since the test is unworkable and has fostered excessive confusion in Establishment Clause jurisprudence.
4. Whether a new test for Establishment Clause purposes should be set forth by this Court when the government displays or recognizes historical expressions of religion.
