Washington,
DC--On Monday, April 28, 2003, the American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), the largest grassroots
Arab-American civil rights organization filed an amicus (friend
of the court brief) in the case of Glassroth v. Moore, which is
on appeal with the Eleventh Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.
This
case involves the appellant's (Roy S. Moore, Chief Justice of
the Alabama Supreme Court) placing of a 5,280 pound monument
featuring the Ten Commandments in the rotunda of the Alabama
State Judicial Building. This building also houses the
Alabama Supreme Court, the Court of Criminal Appeals, the Court
of Civil Appeals, the state law library, and the Alabama
Administrative Office of Courts. In November, a US
district court ruled the monument unconstitutional, and Justice
Moore is now appealing.
ADC
is submitting the amicus to show support for the appellees, and
is joined in this endeavor by several other civil liberties
groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and
Americans United for Separation of Church & State, who are
filing separate briefs. Lawyers Catherine E. Stetson,
Benjamin F. Holt, and Robert B. Wolinsky of the law firm Hogan
and Hartson wrote the brief for ADC.
The
brief states that the addition of this monument to the Alabama
State Judicial Building directly violates the Establishment
Clause of the First Amendment, which prohibits government from
endorsing one religious view over others, or religion over
non-religion. Featuring the Ten Commandments, an
undeniably sacred text in some denominations, shows a clear
religious preference. The religious nature of the monument
is further enhanced by its lack of historical or secular
context. In fact, the quotations on the monument taken
from secular or historical sources are adapted to focus on their
religious aspects; citing "So help me God" from the
Judiciary Act of 1789 is one example.
Finally,
the monument's placement in a central position in a core
government building sends a clear message that the government of
the state of Alabama, including its legal system, specifically
endorses those denominations of Christianity that subscribe to
this version of the Ten Commandments. This is unacceptable
and unconstitutional, as courts should and must protect minority
groups from the imposition of hegemonic preferences. To
show individuals belonging to minority groups that their views
are not preferred by the legal system severely diminishes the
ability of the courts to protect minority rights and liberties.
ADC
is submitting this brief to show its commitment to upholding the
civil rights of all American citizens. The freedoms of
thought, conscience, and religion that are an integral part of
American society mandate the separation of church and state to
ensure their existence. Placing a monument upholding the
religious beliefs of one denomination over another in a
government building is therefore a clear violation of the
constitution.
