In 2001, Mercer County, Kentucky, provided space for a display entitled Foundations of American Law and Government in the County Courthouse. The display included such documents as Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, the Ten Commandments, the Magna Carta, the Preamble to the Kentucky Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. The display was prepared and paid for by a private citizen.

The Ten Commandments? Hold it right there! Predictably, the ACLU got its knickers in a twist and sued, alleging violation of the separation of church and state. The US 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has just rendered a decision in favour of the county and against the ACLU. Clayton Cramer explains:

Because the Ten Commandments were simply one among many historical documents of relevance to the development of American law, and given no special prominence–and because there was no evidence that the objective of including the Ten Commandments was religiously motivated–the Court of Appeals allowed it.

The court curtly tossed aside the slogan separation of church and state as irrelevant:

[T]he ACLU makes repeated reference to the separation of church and state. This extra-constitutional construct has grown tiresome. The First Amendment does not demand a wall of separation between church and state.

What's more, the court laid into the ACLU itself, calling its very goal unreasonable (legalese for out to lunch):

Religion does not become relevant to standing in the political community simply because a particular viewer of a governmental display feels uncomfortable. . . Our concern is that of the reasonable person. And the ACLU, an organization whose mission is to ensure that . . . the government [is kept] out of the religion business, does not embody the reasonable person.

Ouch! That's gotta hurt. Maybe the ACLU will sue those judges for violating separation of church and state causing discomfort.