ALBUQUERQUE – A New Mexico city is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its appeal of a lower court ruling requiring the removal of a Ten Commandments monument outside City Hall.
Attorneys representing the city of Bloomfield filed a petition with the nation’s highest court Thursday, following through on the wishes of city councilors who voted earlier this year to pursue the case.
Attorneys with the group Alliance Defending Freedom argue in the petition that guidance from the Supreme Court is needed because various lower courts are using different standards to evaluate whether such monuments are permissible.
They pointed to a California case involving a Latin cross displayed on government property being held unconstitutional when surrounded by stone plaques honoring military personnel. However, in another case, a cross was deemed constitutional when displayed in a city insignia as a sculpture outside of a city sports complex and in a school mural.
There also are the cases of a Ten Commandments poster in a Kentucky courthouse being found constitutional and a monument on the grounds of a public building in Arkansas being found unconstitutional.
“Various lower court judges and legal commentators, as well as several members of this Court, have highlighted the confusion resulting from these decisions and have called for this Court to bring clarity to this area of law,” the petition states.
“The lower courts are essentially shooting in the dark when it comes to passive monuments. More light is needed,” the petition continues.
The legal fight over the Bloomfield monument began in 2012 when the American Civil Liberties Union sued on behalf of two residents who objected to the monument.
Attorneys with the ACLU of New Mexico said Thursday they believe the record is in their favor if the Supreme Court were to hear the case.
“We wholeheartedly agree with the courts’ finding that the monument is an unconstitutional endorsement of religion by the city,” said Andy Schultz, an attorney working with the New Mexico chapter. “Our nation is home to many rich religious traditions and the government shouldn’t be in the business of setting one set of religious beliefs above another.”
A federal appeals court in February let stand a lower court ruling that concluded the monument violated the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition on the government endorsing a religion.
Attorneys for the city argue that the decision by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ignored previous rulings by the Supreme Court that simply being offended by such a monument did not give someone a legal basis to challenge the monument.
The concrete block stands alongside other monuments on the lawn in front of Bloomfield City Hall that display the Declaration of Independence, the Gettysburg Address and the Bill of Rights.
According to the petition, in adopting its policy for City Hall lawn, Bloomfield leaders were guided by factors that the Supreme Court had laid out in prior cases.
The city also took steps to avoid endorsing religion, something the Constitution bars governments from doing. City leaders had disclaimers placed on the lawn stating that the area was a public forum for citizens to display monuments related to the city’s history of law and government and that the privately-funded monuments did not necessarily reflect the opinions of the city.
