Indiana Gov. Mike Braun and Attorney General Todd Rokita want a monument with the Ten Commandments and the Bill of Rights placed at the Indiana Statehouse.
In 2000, the state wanted to replace a monument of the Ten Commandments that had been vandalized. The new monument had both the Ten Commandments and the Bill of Rights inscribed on it.
But the Indiana Civil Liberties Union sued, and a court injunction found that monument’s placement on state property would violate the Establishment Clause in the First Amendment.
That clause says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”
But recent decisions by the Supreme Court has changed how the courts interpret the establishment clause.
In a court document filed Dec. 29, Rokita argues the injunction should be vacated, since it “rests upon legal principles that can no longer be sustained.”
Rokita cited the Supreme Court’s overturning precedent set by Lemon V. Kurtzman. The “Lemon Test” derives from that case.
The Lemon Test states that a law must have a secular legislative purpose; not have the primary effect of either advancing or inhibiting religion; and does not foster “excessive government entanglement” with religion.
However, Rokita says, “The Supreme Court has discarded the Lemon test that this Court and the Seventh Circuit applied, upheld the placement of a Ten Commandments monument on another State’s capitol grounds, and explained that the Establishment Clause does not bar traditional acknowledgements of religion on public property.”
Rokita also wrote the Supreme Court held that the “Establishment Clause must be interpreted by ‘reference to historical practices and understandings’ rather than by reference to a government action’s putative purposes or a hypothetical observer’s sensibilities.”
Tuesday, Braun shared a post on Facebook saying the monument "was banned under a legal standard that no longer applies. It’s time to lift the ban and put this monument back where it belongs."
The request mimics a national trend of putting the Ten Commandments into government buildings and schools.
If the motion is approved, the monument would be moved from its current location in Bedford to the Statehouse grounds.
