McCREARY COUNTY V. AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF KENTUCKY 545 U.S. 844 (2005) CASE BRIEF

McCREARY COUNTY V. AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF KENTUCKY

545 U.S. 844 (2005)

NATURE OF THE CASE: This was a dispute over various displays of the Ten Commandments in County Courthouses in Kentucky.

FACTS: McCreary and Pulaski County put up in their respective courthouses large, gold-framed copies of an abridged text of the King James version of the Ten Commandments, including a citation to the Book of Exodus. In McCreary the placement of the Commandments responded to an order of the county legislative body requiring 'the display [to] be posted in 'a very high traffic area' of the courthouse.' In Pulaski County they were hung in a ceremony presided over by the county Judge-Executive, who called them 'good rules to live by' and who recounted the story of an astronaut who became convinced 'there must be a divine God' after viewing the Earth from the moon. Both displays were 'readily visible to ... county citizens who use the courthouse to conduct their civic business, to obtain or renew driver's licenses and permits, to register cars, to pay local taxes, and to register to vote.' American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky et al. (P) sued the Counties (Ds) under 42 U. S. C. 1983, and sought a preliminary injunction against maintaining the displays, on grounds that they were violations of the prohibition of religious establishment included in the First Amendment of the Constitution. Ds then expanded the displays of the Ten Commandments in their locations to include eight other documents in smaller frames, each either having a religious theme or excerpted to highlight a religious element. The documents were the 'endowed by their Creator' passage from the Declaration of Independence; the Preamble to the Constitution of Kentucky; the national motto, 'In God We Trust'; a page from the Congressional Record of February 2, 1983, proclaiming the Year of the Bible and including a statement of the Ten Commandments; a proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln designating April 30, 1863, a National Day of Prayer and Humiliation; an excerpt from President Lincoln's 'Reply to Loyal Colored People of Baltimore upon Presentation of a Bible,' reading that '[t]he Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man'; a proclamation by President Reagan marking 1983 the Year of the Bible; and the Mayflower Compact. The District Court entered a preliminary injunction. The court found that the second version also 'clearly lack[ed] a secular purpose' because the 'Count[ies] narrowly tailored [their] selection of foundational documents to incorporate only those with specific references to Christianity.' Ds then installed another display in each courthouse. It consisted of nine framed documents of equal size, one of them setting out the Ten Commandments explicitly identified as the 'King James Version' at Exodus 20:3-17. Assembled with the Commandments are framed copies of the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, the lyrics of the Star Spangled Banner, the Mayflower Compact, the National Motto, the Preamble to the Kentucky Constitution, and a picture of Lady Justice. The collection is entitled 'The Foundations of American Law and Government Display' and each document comes with a statement about its historical and legal significance. The comment on the Ten Commandments reads: 'The Ten Commandments have profoundly influenced the formation of Western legal thought and the formation of our country. That influence is clearly seen in the Declaration of Independence, which declared that 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.' The Ten Commandments provide the moral background of the Declaration of Independence and the foundation of our legal tradition.' P moved to supplement the preliminary injunction to enjoin the third display. The District Court ruled against Ds in light of the history of all the events in that Ds' clear' purpose was not to educate. The Sixth Circuit affirmed. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.

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LEGAL ANALYSIS:

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