The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals struck terror into the hearts of the ACLU today by paying attention to what the Constitution actually says on the matter of church and state.
Specifically the Court noted
The First Amendment does not demand a wall of separation between church and state.
The ACLU had sued to prevent Mercer County, Kentucky from displaying historical documents which included the well-known subversive text, the Ten Commandments. In a rare display of "I've had enough," one of the judges said that the ACLU's
repeated reference 'to the separation of church and state' ... has grown tiresome.
This is a victory and early Christmas present for those of us who have actually read the Constitution (and yes, your author is a lawyer, before anyone asks) and know that the First Amendment was designed to prevent there being established an official government supported church or denomination. In this vein it will interest you to know that Connecticut had an official state religion supported by tax dollars until 1818 - the Congregational Church. Note that 1818 is almost 20 years after our current Constitution went into effect. That will scramble your mind a bit if you think about the implications for Federalism, etc. But that is a story for a different blog.
Get the full opinion of the case, entitled ACLU v. Mercer County, here.
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