State decides not to build Ten Commandments monument

INDIANAPOLIS -- Unable to convince the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the state's appeal, Gov. Frank O'Bannon acknowledged Monday that his fight to erect a Ten Commandments monument on the Statehouse lawn was over.\nThe court's refusal to hear the appeal disgusted some lawmakers, even leading one to suggest ignoring the lower court's ruling that the monument would be unconstitutional.\n"If I was governor, I would stick it on the Statehouse lawn and defy anyone to take it down," said Rep. Brent Steele, R-Bedford.\nTaking the more moderate route, O'Bannon and Attorney General Steve Carter simply released a joint statement expressing their disappointment.\n"We recognized that our chances were small that the high court would hear the case, but we thought it was our duty to make the effort," the statement said. "The court's decision not to hear our case effectively ends this issue for the state."\nThat is certainly the hope of Ken Falk, legal director of the Indiana Civil Liberties Union. Falk has been battling the Ten Commandments issue on a number of fronts in Indiana, from the Statehouse to courthouses in Richmond and Mishawaka.\n"I'm hoping this is the end," Falk said. "I really think we're at the point now where communities around the state should recognize what the (federal appeals court) says the law is and police themselves. I think we're at the point now that people who are sworn to uphold the Constitution, as elected officials are, should uphold the law."\nA three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a preliminary injunction in July that barred the Statehouse monument. The majority said the monument, which also would include the preambles of the Indiana Constitution and the Bill of Rights, amounted to the state endorsing a religion.\nState officials have argued that the monument was not an endorsement of religion, but an acknowledgment of the historical importance the Ten Commandments have to the state.\nMonday's decision marked the second time the U.S. Supreme Court has opted to stay away from an Indiana case involving the Ten Commandments. Last May, the justices decided not to hear arguments on whether the Ten Commandments could be displayed outside the Elkhart City Hall.\nWhile hope for a Statehouse monument is over, the original author of the bill to erect the monument was glad the high court did not rule on the issue.\nRep. Jerry Denbo, D-French Lick, said without a Supreme Court ruling, the country was left with a smattering of different rulings, allowing at least some places to display the Ten Commandments.\n"As long as they didn't strike it down," Denbo said, "I'm happy"