OKLAHOMA SUPREME COURT ORDERS REMOVAL OF TEN COMMANDMENTS MONUMENT FROM THE STATE CAPITOL GROUNDS

Court holds in ACLU case that government’s display of monument violates Oklahoma Constitution

June 30, 2015

OKLAHOMA CITY – Today, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that the state’s display of a Ten Commandments monument on the Capitol lawn violates the Oklahoma Constitution and must be removed.  The case was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma and the national ACLU on behalf of a local Baptist minister and several other citizens.

Legislators authorized the monument in 2009, and it was installed in late 2012 on the north side of the Capitol grounds—a location the Capitol’s architect had deemed suitable for “reflection” on the religious dictates of the Ten Commandments.

Arguing that the Oklahoma Constitution prohibits the use of public property or money for religious purposes, the ACLU filed suit in 2013.  The Rev. Bruce Prescott, the lead plaintiff in Prescott et al. v. Oklahoma Capitol Preservation Commission, was pleased by the decision: “Religious people should rejoice that despite the state’s argument to the contrary, the Court made clear that the Ten Commandments Monument is obviously religious in nature, and not merely a secular historical artifact.”

The ACLU of Oklahoma has issued the following additional statements from attorneys on the case:

The following is attributable to Ryan Kiesel, ACLU of Oklahoma Executive Director:

The placement of the Ten Commandments Monument at the Capitol created a more divisive and hostile state for many Oklahomans, sending a message to some citizens that they are less than equal because of their religious beliefs. Today the Oklahoma Supreme Court recognizes that when the government literally puts one faith on a pedestal, it is an affront to one of the most fundamental protections of the Oklahoma Constitution, namely that all Oklahomans, regardless of the beliefs, stand before their government as equals.

The following is attributable to Brady Henderson, ACLU of Oklahoma Legal Director:

The framers of Oklahoma’s Constitution, like the founders of our country, understood that our religious choices are our own to make, not the government’s. Today’s decision is a victory for all Oklahomans who value the simple freedom to come to their own conclusions about matters of conscience. The Court’s ruling affirms the time-honored idea that my faith is a relationship between me and God, not me, God, and my local government.

The following is attributable to Daniel Mach, Director, ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief:

This decision is a win for religious liberty. It’s an important reminder that the state simply has no business telling its citizens how to worship or what to believe.

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