First Amendment lawyers await the highlight of the Supreme Court's current term-- the decision on when, if ever, the Ten Commandments can be posted or planted on public property. In 2003, Human Events published a fascinating photo essay showing photos of varying of depictions of the Ten Commandments on federal buildings in Washington, DC. What got me thinking was the fact that in some of these depictions, the tablets have only the Roman numerals I through X on them. Are these subject to the same rules as tablets which carry actual text? An 11th Circuit case, King v. Richmond County, decided in 2003, found that the use of only Roman numerals made it less likely that the depiction of the Ten Commandments on a court clerk's seal had the effect of promoting or endorsing religion. However, this was treated as only one of many relevant factors.
Lawyers also are speculating on just when between now and the end of June the Court will hand down its decision. Any chance it will be on June 13 or 14? That is the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, which commemorates the giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses at Mt. Sinai. Do the Justices really have that exquisite a sense of timing?
By the way, the parties' briefs to the Supreme Court in both Van Orden and the McCreary County cases are available online.
