School District Loses Fight to Keep Ten Commandments Monument on Property
- Updated Jan 05, 2016
A school district in Pennsylvania has lost a court case which was filed against it by the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) in an attempt to get a Ten Commandments monument removed from school property.
According to Christian Today, the Connellsville School District paid the law firm that represented it $64,000 to fight the FFRF’s claim that the monument violated the Constitution.
Despite their efforts, however, U.S. District Judge Terrence McVerry ruled that “the Ten Commandments monument at the Connellsville Area School District Junior High School runs afoul of the Establishment Clause.”
Although the school district lost the case, the group responsible for urging the district to fight the lawsuit claims that the case still needed to be fought on principle.
"It doesn't matter what the cost was, it was a fight that needed to be fought," David Show of the Thou Shall Not Move told the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. "That's something that should not be a problem in our schools."
After the ruling in August, the Ten Commandments monument was not initially removed from school property because the family who filed a complaint with the FFRF concerning the monument no longer attends or visits the school.
The monument was removed in October and placed on the property of a church nearby the school.
Publication date: January 5, 2016
