Published: June 12, 2009 07:35 am      

Court rules monument endorses religion

DENVER (AP) — A federal appeals court has ruled that a Ten Commandments monument outside the Haskell County, Okla., courthouse endorses religion based on public comments made by county commissioners after it was installed.

A three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the monument, which is part of a historical display, “has the primary effect of endorsing religion” when taken in context with the small community of Stigler, Okla., where it sits.

They sent the case back to Muskogee, Okla.-based U.S. District Judge Ronald A. White so he could issue a new ruling consistent with their ruling. In August 2006, White rejected arguments that the monument promotes Christianity at the expense of other religions.

“Whoever was the judge in this, I feel sorry for him on Judgment Day,” said Haskell County Commissioner Mitch Worsham. “We’re not going to take it down.”

Haskell County’s attorneys can ask all the judges on the appellate court to review the panel’s decision, or appeal the case directly to the U.S. Supreme Court. Worshom said they are considering an appeal.

One county commissioner, who wasn’t quoted by name in the panel’s ruling, said after the privately funded monument was installed: “That’s what we’re trying to live by, that right there.... The good Lord died for me....”

Commissioners argued the monument should be viewed as private speech because the lawn includes a public forum for other types of speech that include monuments honoring those who have died in wars.