More and more the American court system is shaping the cultural identity of American society. As the culture war spreads from the halls of academia to the halls of Congress, Federal judges are becoming more emboldened in their willingness to step into and attempt to end national debates on controversial issues.
The most recent examples come from court rooms in Mercer, Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio. The two decisons reflect the two paths that are open to America in terms of proper interpretation of the United States Consitution. In Kentucky, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a courthouse display in Mercer County of the Ten Commandments is constituional. The disputed document hangs with other historical documents including the Declaration of Indepdenence, the Bill of Rights, and the Magna Carta. Writing for the majority, Judge Richard Suhrheinrich said, "A reasonable observer would not view this display as an attempt by Mercer County to establish religion." Well stop the presses....we finally have a Federal judge who understands what it means to be reasonable.
But Judge Suhrheinrich didn't stop there. He went on to chastize the ACLU for presenting flawed logic to try to persuade the court to remove the documents. Referinng to the ACLU Suhrheinrich said,