Remove Ten Commendments - federal judge

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A Ten Commandments monument in the rotunda of Alabama's judicial building violates the constitution's ban on government promotion of religion, a federal judge ruled Monday.

U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson gave Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, who had had the 5,300-pound granite monument installed in the state building, 30 days to remove it.

Moore testified during the trial that the commandments are the moral foundation of American law. He said the monument acknowledges God, but does not force anyone to follow his conservative Christian religious beliefs.

A lawsuit seeking removal of the monument argued that it promoted the judge's faith in violation of the constitution's ban on government establishment of religion.

"This is a question of whether the politically powerful can impose their views on others," Southern Poverty Law Center attorney Danielle Lipow argued during the trial before Thompson.

Moore testified he decided to locate a monument to the Ten Commandments in the building several months after he was elected chief justice in November 2000.

The monument, which features the King James Bible version of the Ten Commandments sitting on top of a granite block, is one of the first things visitors see upon entering the building.

An appeal was expected. Neither Moore nor his lead attorney, Stephen Melchior, had any immediate comment on the ruling. An assistant to Melchior said they were reserving comment until they had read the opinion.

Moore fought to display a wooden plaque of the commandments on his courtroom wall in Etowah County, before he won election as chief justice.

"The basic issue is whether we will still be able to acknowledge God under the First Amendment, or whether we will not be able to acknowledge God," Moore testified.

Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, called the ruling a setback for "Moore's religious crusade."

"It's high time Moore learned that the source of U.S. law is the constitution and not the Bible," Lynn said.

Lynn's organization, along with the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery and the American Civil Liberties Union represented three attorneys who objected to the monument.

One of Moore's supporters, Alabama Christian Coalition President John Giles, said he believes there may be a backlash against the ruling in Alabama, a Bible Belt state in which Moore won easily two years ago.

"I am afraid the judge's order putting a 30-day limit on removal of the monument will lead to an uprising of citizens protesting removal of that monument," Giles said.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,70719,00.html