Junction City to keep monument Commission interprets Supreme Court

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Jul 18, 2005 by Matt Moline Capital-Journal

By Matt Moline

THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

JUNCTION CITY --- In October, then-Mayor Mick Wunder vowed to keep the city's 47-year-old Ten Commandments monument in front of the municipal building until the U.S. Supreme Court "tells us we can no longer have it there."

Nine months later, the U.S. Supreme Court has sent the city commission mixed messages in two rulings last month relating to controversial Ten Commandments displays in Texas and Kentucky.

The result is that Junction City's stone tablets will continue to stand in the accustomed spot near the entrance to city hall, said city manager Rod Barnes.

The monument was presented to the city as a gift from the local chapter of the Fraternal Order of Eagles in 1958.

In Kentucky's Ten Commandments court challenge, the high court ruled that framed copies of the biblical laws displayed on interior walls of two courthouses constituted a purposeful endorsement of religion by government, representing a violation of the First Amendment's admonition that government "shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion."

But in the Texas case, the court ruled that a display of a Ten Commandments monolith on the Statehouse grounds can stand.

"Simply having religious content or promoting a message consistent with a religious doctrine does not run afoul of the (Constitution)," Justice David Breyer wrote in the court's 5-4 majority opinion.

"I guess that leaves us in Junction City with the idea that 'outside is OK' but 'inside, not OK,' " Barnes said.

For now, the five-man council "is not in a hurry to move it or change it," Barnes said.

"I think the council feels that we're pretty safe having the monument outside, on the grounds of the building, much like a historical display," Barnes said. "Of course, somebody could file a court case to make it go away. But for now, the council feels satisfied leaving it where it is."

Wunder, who continues to hold his seat on the commission, made a pledge to defend the tablets at a commission meeting Oct. 20, eight days after the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it would hear arguments on Kentucky and Texas Ten Commandments cases.

The court handed down its rulings June 27, the final day of the 2004-05 session.