Group Plans 10 Commandments Across From Supreme Court

Today's Washington Post reports that the Christian evangelical group Faith and Action is taking strategic advantage of the fact that its offices are housed right across the street from the U.S. Supreme Court. It plans on Saturday to unveil an 850 pound granite sculpture of the Ten Commandments on its front lawn where it will be visible each day to the Justices as they come and go from the Supreme Court employee parking lot. However Erik Linden, a spokesman for the District of Columbia Department of Transportation, said the group needs a public space permit from his Department before displaying the monument as well as approval from the Historic Preservation Review Board because the townhouse in which the group's offices are located sits in a historic district. Bill Sisolak, chairman of the Historic Preservation Review Board zoning committee said: "It's a large object not in keeping with the historic nature of the neighborhood.... [I]n my opinion it doesn't appear to be in compliance." Faith and Action says it has tried unsuccessfully for five years to get the required permits, and now plans to move ahead without them based on "common law that governs garden displays."