Ten Commandments Bill Approved In Kentucky

The Ten Commandments could be posted in schools and government buildings and a large monument with the biblical directives would be placed outside the Capitol under legislation awaiting the signature of Gov. Ernie Fletcher, an ordained Baptist minister.

"The governor looks forward to signing this bill," said Brett Hall, spokesman for the Republican governor who is currently in the hospital where he is being treated for a blood clot. "I'm sure he will be very happy to hear this news."

The measure passed without debate in the House on Friday in a 90-5 vote, and drew immediate criticism from the American Civil Liberty Union of Kentucky.

House Speaker Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, said he believes the measure is constitutional because the commandments would be part of displays with other historical documents.

"It's a bill that the people of Kentucky largely support," Richards said.

The Senate included a provision directing the return a 6-foot-tall granite monument bearing the Ten Commandments to the lawn outside the state Capitol. That monument now is on display outside a Fraternal Order of Eagles lodge in Hopkinsville in southwestern Kentucky.

The monument was donated to the state in 1971 by the Fraternal Order of Eagles. The American Civil Liberties Union won a court case that resulted in the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals finding the monument an unconstitutional endorsement of religion.

"It's very irresponsible of legislators to invite costly litigation on something that they spent hard earned taxpayer

dollars on just a few days ago," said Beth Wilson, executive director of the ACLU in Louisville. She was referring to a court case in 2001 over the monument that resulted in the state paying more than $120,000 in attorney fees to the ACLU.

Wilson stopped short of saying a lawsuit would be filed.

"All I can tell you is we will take a very close look at the final legislation and make a decision down the road," she said.

Kentucky has been at the center of legal fights in recent years on the posting of the commandments in public buildings. In one case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled displays inside courthouses in McCreary and Pulaski counties were unconstitutional. In another, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals said a similar display in the Mercer County Courthouse is constitutional because it included other historical documents.

The measure that awaits the governor's signature also would require the Legislative Research Commission to post the national motto, In God We Trust, on the wall in the House of Representatives, behind the speaker's stand.

The legislation is House Bill 277.