Appeals Court Says No to Ten Commandments

A federal appeals court in Frankfort rejected a plan to display the Ten Commandments near the state Capitol, calling it a thinly disguised effort at government endorsement of religion.

The opinion noted that the state could display the biblical directives by presenting them in the context of other historical and nonreligious material.

Republican state Sen. Albert Robinson, who sponsored the General Assembly resolution calling for the display, said the ruling ignores the commandments’ historical role and infringes on his own practice of his Christian faith. But he also indicated that the ruling could lead legislators to a presentation the court could accept.