No Wall Required Between Church and State

Somehow I missed this story in all the pre-Christmas hubbub. The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling on December 21 in a Ten Commandments case which basically said the Constitution does not require a separation of church and state (h/t Captain's Quarters):

A federal appeals court has upheld a display of the Ten Commandments alongside other historical documents in the Mercer County, Ky., courthouse.

The judge who wrote the opinion blasted the American Civil Liberties Union, which challenged the display, in language that echoed the type of criticism often directed at the organization.

Judge Richard Suhrheinrich's ruling said the ACLU brought "tiresome" arguments about the "wall of separation" between church and state, and it said the organization does not represent a "reasonable person."

The decision was issued by a three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Cincinnati. It upheld a lower-court decision that allowed Mercer County to continue displaying the Ten Commandments along with the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, the words to "The Star-Spangled Banner" and other documents.

All of the items were posted at the same time in 2001.

No telling what the Supremes will do with this. That may well depend on whether arguments take place before or after Alito is confirmed.

By the way, as Scrappleface points out, this story was completely ignored by the New York Times, the paper which boasts that it includes "all the news that is fit to print". I guess bad news (for the Times) on a Ten Commandments case isn't fit to print.