The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled Tuesday the Ten Commandments monument at the state Capitol has to be removed because it violates the state constitution’s ban on using public property to benefit a religion.
Justices ruled 7-2 the monument erected in 2012 indirectly benefits Judeo-Christian faiths because the Ten Commandments are “obviously religious in nature.”
Attorney General Scott Pruitt disagreed with the ruling, saying the state’s high court incorrectly interpreted Article 2, Section 5 of Oklahoma’s constitution:
No public money or property shall ever be appropriated, applied, donated, or used, directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or support of any sect, church, denomination, or system of religion, or for the use, benefit, or support of any priest, preacher, minister, or other religious teacher or dignitary, or sectarian institution as such.
“My office will file a petition with the court for a rehearing in light of the broader implications of this ruling on other areas of state law,” Pruitt said in a statement. “If Article 2, Section 5 is going to be construed in such a manner by the court, it will be necessary to repeal it.”
Pruitt said until that rehearing, the court’s order won’t be enforced.
State Rep. Mike Ritze (R-Broken Arrow), whose family provided $10,000 for construction of the monument, said the high court didn’t follow or cite earlier precedent.
“This ‘opinion’ reads more like a shot from the hip than a real opinion,” Ritze said in a statement. “When the court rules against legislative action that is in compliance with its own precedent it should at least explain itself to the legislature and the people.”
Ritze also said under Tuesday’s ruling, Native American religious symbols at the state Capitol could be in jeopardy. The Associated Press reports the U.S. Supreme Court says an identical monument in Texas is constitutional.
Ryan Kiesel, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma, told the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange’s Michael Cross that Tuesday’s decision reaffirms Oklahoma’s constitutional provision on religion.
“Oklahomans get to decide what to believe, how to believe, or what not to believe, not their state legislators, not politicians, and that politics needed to be removed from state-based decisions,” Kiesel said.
Gov. Mary Fallin’s office says it’s checking with Pruitt to determine the next step, but Kiesel said Tuesday’s 7-2 decision means any other challenges are unlikely.
“This opinion, from all appearances, appears to be final, and the monument will be removed from the Capitol grounds,” Kiesel said.
Last year the monument was destroyed after a man determined to be mentally ill ran into it with his vehicle. It was later rebuilt and put in the same location.
Later Tuesday, a handful of Republican state lawmakers called for the impeachment of the seven justices who they say made a “political ruling,” and said they would introduce Articles of Impeachment during the 2016 legislative session that starts in February.
“Our state Supreme Court is playing politics by issuing rulings contrary to the Constitution, and contrary to the will of the clear majority of Oklahoma voters,” state Rep. Kevin Calvey (R-Oklahoma City) said in a statement. “These Supreme Court justices are nothing more than politicians in black robes, masquerading as objective jurists. This ruling is the Court engaging in judicial bullying of the people of Oklahoma, pure and simple. It is time that the people chose jurists, rather than letting a tiny special interest group of lawyers at the Oklahoma Bar Association dictate who can and can’t be a judge.”
Calvey and Pruitt both said the Ten Commandments profoundly influenced Western law, and the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington depicts the biblical code.
The Oklahoma City Republican also said recent state Supreme Court rulings striking down certain restrictions on abortion amounts to evidence of the court’s “elitist bias” and “undemocratic liberal dictatorial powers.”
"It is sad that the once-worthy concept of ‘judicial independence’ has been perverted by those engaging in politics from the bench,” Calvey said.
The handful of lawmakers also say they support efforts to reduce the influence of the Oklahoma Bar Association in the selection of judges.
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