Cengage Advantage Books: Fundamentals of Business Law 9th Edition by Roger LeRoy Miller

Exercise 13

Establishment Clause. James DeWeese, an Ohio judge, hung two posters in his courtroom, one showing the Bill of Rights and the other showing the Ten Commandments. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) brought an action against DeWeese in a federal district court. The ACLU alleged that the Ten Commandments poster violated the establishment clause and requested an injunction to prevent DeWeese from continuing to display the poster in his courtroom. The district court ruled in the ACLU's favor. DeWeese appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, claiming that his purpose in displaying the Ten Commandments poster was not to promote religion. Rather, he claimed to be expressing his views about two warring legal philosophies that motivate behavior and consequences-moral relativism and moral absolutism (which was represented by the Ten Commandments). DeWeese also stated that he used the poster "occasionally in educational efforts" when speaking to community groups to "express his belief that God is the ultimate authority." Does displaying a poster of the Ten Commandments in a courtroom violate the establishment clause? Why or why not? How should the federal appellate court rule? [American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio Foundation, Inc. v DeWeese, 633 F3d 424 (6th Cir. 2011)]