JUDGE ROY MOORE AND FOUNDATION FOR MORAL LAW FILE BRIEF IN U.S. APPEALS COURT DEFENDING CONSTITUTIONALITY OF OHIO JUDGE JAMES DEWEESE'S DISPLAY OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

December 23, 2009

Former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore and the Foundation for Moral Law , a religious liberties legal organization in Montgomery, Alabama, filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6 th Circuit today, arguing in the case of ACLU of Ohio v. DeWeese that a Richland County, Ohio Judge who displayed the Ten Commandments opposite tenets of Secular Humanism did not violate the Establishment Clause of the 1 st Amendment. A federal district judge in Ohio held that Judge DeWeese had an “unconstitutional” “religious purpose” because Judge DeWeese agreed with the Founding Fathers that our law and moral standards must be based on the absolute standards of the law of God, not the ever-changing rule of man.

(Read the Foundation's amicus brief in DeWeese here.)

Judge Roy Moore stated:

“Judge DeWeese put up the Ten Commandments next to the beliefs of Secular Humanists to demonstrate that we as a nation must either be governed by the moral foundation of God's law or the shifting sands of secular atheism. Ironically, the federal courts chose the secular view of law and ordered Judge DeWeese not to recognize the sovereignty of God and His law over the state. We are glad to help our friend Judge DeWeese with our brief in this case and we hope the appeals court chooses to follow the Constitution rather than their own subjective feelings.”

This is not Judge DeWeese's first time before the federal courts for a display of the Ten Commandments. In 2000, he hung a framed poster of the Ten Commandments on one wall of his courtroom and the Bill of Rights on an opposite wall. The federal courts ruled it was unconstitutional and ordered the poster of the Ten Commandments down.

In 2006, Judge DeWeese put up a new poster called “Philosophies of Law in Conflict,” in which the Ten Commandments are listed alongside Secular Humanist precepts to demonstrate the contrast between the fixed standards of morality in God's law and the changing moral standards of man. A federal court has once again ordered Judge DeWeese to take down his display, and he is now appealing.

In their brief, Judge Moore and the Foundation urge the appeals court to rule based upon the words of the Establishment Clause as it was understood at the time of ratification. Thus, the question is whether Judge DeWeese's display is a “law respecting an establishment of religion. Because it is not a law, it does not dictate to anyone what their religion should be, and it is not an official establishment thereof, Judge DeWeese's display is constitutional. The trial court's decision should be reversed.

The Foundation for Moral Law, a national non-profit legal organization, is located in Montgomery, Alabama, and is dedicated to restoring the knowledge of God in law and government through litigation and education relating to moral issues and religious liberty cases.