In a 9-5 decision today in ACLU of Kentucky v. Mercer County, (6th Cir., April 24, 2006), the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals refused to grant en banc review of a decision by a 3-judge panel of the Court that upheld the constitutionality of a display containing the Ten Commandments. The display, in a court house in Mercer County, Kentucky, was identical in content to the display in McCreary County, Kentucky, that was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2005. Nevertheless, the 3-judge panel found that Mercer County lacked the religious purpose that McCreary county had evidenced. (See prior posting.) A strong dissent to the refusal to rehear the case was written by Judge R. Guy Cole. He said: "The panel read Mercer County’s action of quickly and exactly copying its fellow counties’ embattled and religiously motivated display out of the record. Rather, the panel held as a matter of law ... that the reasonable observer would perceive a predominantly secular purpose behind Mercer County’s display."
The American Center for Law and Justice, which represented Mercer County, issued a statement praising the decision. It said: "This is an important defeat for the ACLU and other groups that are committed to removing our religious heritage and traditions from the public square." The Louisville-Courier Journal reports on the en banc determination.
