My good friend Greg recently asked me what I thought about the current “crisis” in Alabama regarding a monument inscribed with the 10 commandments located in the State supreme court.
Though I know about the case, it hasn’t registered on the top of my radar screen. I took about an hour today to read up on the controversy and various opinions surrounding it and I think I’ve come up with a pretty solid opinion.
This I know, the separation of Church and State as prescribed in the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America applies only to the Federal Government:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
The meaning is simple enough. The Federal Government is restricted from either advocating religion or dissuading it. They are to remain neutral on the subject.
Now, this is where it gets interesting:
Amendment IX: The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
These two simple amendments are probably the most misunderstood and tragically overlooked in the entire Constitution. Congress, making no judgment on religion, or drugs, or sex, or any infinite number of issues, leaves the decision making up to the states respectively, or to the People.
So, the Chief Justice of Alabama secretly ushers in a memorial engraved with the 10 commandments into a state courthouse. The question is, does this action run contrary to the Alabama Constitution? If so, it should be removed. If not, it is an issue for the Alabama State Legislators and the State Courts to pick up, if so warranted by the People. Since the monument was not erected in a Federal court, the Federal Government really has nothing to do with it.
Now, I understand the Alabama Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the monument was indeed in violation of the Alabama Constitution and ordered it removed. Ok, good, remove it. The Chief Justice is now bound by law and oath to obey the law and acquiesce. Instead, he is appealing to the United States Supreme Court, unwittingly becoming a key player in the basic erosion of States’ Rights.
The Supreme Court of the United States has no authority to hear this case. They should read their Constitution, scroll on down to the 9th and 10th amendments and tell Alabama, in the spirit of Federalism and the Republic they represent, “sorry guys, this one’s all on you”.
