ACLJ Disappointed With Supreme Court Decision Not To Hear Indiana 10 Commandments Case May 29, 2001 (Washington, DC) – The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm, said today the U.S. Supreme Court “missed an important opportunity to clarify an issue that has become the center of a national debate” when it refused to consider an appeal of a case out of Indiana where a lower court ruled that a monument of the Ten Commandments which has been on display for more than 40 years is unconstitutional. “We are disappointed that the Supreme Court will not consider this most important First Amendment issue,” said Francis J. Manion, Senior Counsel of the ACLJ, which represented the City of Elkhart, Indiana in its appeal. “The Supreme Court missed an important opportunity to clarify an issue that has become the center of a national debate. The Court’s decision not to weigh-in on the Ten Commandments issue will only add to the confusion surrounding the displays of Ten Commandments in communities across America.” The ACLJ – which represented the City of Elkhart – asked the Supreme Court to take the case and overturn a December 2000 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit that ruled that a granite display of the Ten Commandments – donated by the Fraternal Order of Eagles in 1958 to the City of Elkhart – was unconstitutional. The ACLJ is involved in ten cases involving challenges to the display of the Ten Commandments – including the representation of an Ohio state judge who has been sued by the ACLU for displaying the Ten Commandments in his courtroom. Manion said: “The ACLJ will continue to meet legal challenges posed by the ACLU and other special interest groups that are targeting Ten Commandments displays. At the same time, the ACLJ will continue to work to safeguard the constitutionality of these displays which are at the foundation of the history and heritage of our country.” The ACLJ is an international public interest law firm that focuses on constitutional issues and specializes in First Amendment law. The ACLJ is headquartered in Virginia Beach, VA and the web site address is www.aclj.org.