Court to hear arguments in challenge to Ten Commandments display
U.S. District Court Judge Michael Urbanski will hear arguments on Monday, Nov. 28, in the ACLU of Virginia and Freedom from Religion Foundation’s challenge to the posting of the Ten Commandments at Narrows High School in Giles County.
The court will consider arguments in the defendant’s motion to dismiss the case and plaintiffs’ motion to proceed using pseudonyms.
The ACLU and FFRF argue that the use of pseudonyms protects the plaintiffs from the vitriol of community members who support the School Board’s decision to have the display.
“The community has already expressed considerable animus toward these plaintiffs,” said ACLU of Virginia Legal Director Rebecca Glenberg. “If their identities are revealed, there is no doubt they will become the targets of much more direct harassment.”
The controversy began in late 2010, when the Freedom from Religion Foundation received complaints about the posting of the Ten Commandments in Giles County public schools, a practice that had been in place for years. Over the next six months a dispute ensued in which the Ten Commandments were removed, reposted, then removed again, and ultimately posted in a display with historical documents relating to American history, such as the Declaration of Independence, the Star-Spangled Banner, and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom.
The ACLU of Virginia and the Freedom from Religion Foundation filed suit on Sept. 13, on behalf of a student and the student’s parent arguing that the display amounts to government endorsement of religion and therefore violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
The Ten Commandments are posted on a main hallway at the high school, near the trophy case and on the way to the cafeteria, where it is seen by students every day.
Related posts:
- ACLU sues Giles County over Ten Commandments display The ACLU of Virginia today filed suit against the Giles County School Board for posting the Ten Commandments on the wall at Narrows High School...
- Groups threaten suit if Giles County reposts Ten Commandments in schools The ACLU of Virginia and the Freedom From Religion Foundation today warned the Giles County School Board not to follow through with a proposal to...
- ACLU: Giles County posting of Ten Commandments is violation The ACLU of Virginia on Friday objected to a decision by the Giles County School Board to re-post the Ten Commandments in public schools, and...
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This is really going to court? What a waste of time & money for all concerned. How many times do courts have to rule that religious displays are inappropriate before people finally get it?
OK , there is nothing wrong with the display. Now if someone wants to sue then they should man up and say who they are so everyone knows exactly who is trying to go against the community. No anonminity period.The law says they can be displayed and are displayed in many federal government buildings. Like it as not you can not change what this nations history is. You can disagree, protest or what ever but you can’t change the fact that so many came here for religious freedom.
James W,
You can’t have freedom of religion without freedom FROM religion as well.
People came here because religion was being forced on them, and it is still happening all the time. This is what the FFRF fights against.
If only Zeus’ version of the 10 commandments were allowed to be posted (and state-sponsored and supported as truth), YOU would feel persecuted, and only then would you agree with us that it is wrong for something like this to be posted by a government agency (in church, and on private property is fine though). For example, what if some of those commandments were:
When lightning strikes, thou shalt bow and yell to reaffirm that the only one true god is Zeus.
or
Thou shalt not boil a baby goat in it’s mother’s milk.
Pretty crazy, eh? We don’t all agree, and no one viewpoint has been proven to be true, so the government may not side with any religion or lack thereof (the first amendment protects you and I both- equally).
Thanks for your time!
That’s right. Our first settlers came here
for religious freedom, and then took it away in their theocratic colonies and took it away from many of the Indians.
(Aren’t those First Thanksgiving
paintings heart warming?)