Van Orden v. Perry

What's at stake

• Stopping attempts to excise religion from our history and the public square
• Protecting the public acknowledgment of our nation’s religious heritage

Summary

An individual sued the Texas state government, claiming a 40-year-old monument of the Ten Commandments on the grounds of the state capitol violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.  The United States Supreme Court ruled that while the Ten Commandments are undeniably religious, they also have historical significance, and that the inclusion of the monument among other monuments reflecting the political history of the state did not constitute an unlawful establishment of religion.  The monument’s religious content alone did not violate the Establishment Clause.

Our role in this case

Alliance Defending Freedom provided funding toward the amici effort.