No Appeal Over Chester County Ten Commandments

The Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia and the American Civil Liberties Union have been involved in legal battles over a Ten Commandments plaque on the Chester County courthouse since 2001. The ACLU announced that they are withdrawing from the case because a federal court decided that the age of the plaque protects it as being historical, not that it is religious.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports: 

Stefan Presser, legal director of the ACLU's Philadelphia office, said the decision not to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was made after a thorough analysis of the law as well as the makeup of the high court. "At least three [Supreme Court] justices are on record in other cases as saying our position was in legal error," he said. That reality substantially reduced the likelihood of a reversal, he added.

Margaret Downey, a Pocopson Township resident who heads the Freethought Society, said that even though she was disappointed by the outcome of the litigation, she was grateful for the ACLU's assistance. "We are no longer going to wait years and years before acting," she said. "We have seen what the passage of time can do."

Downey is right: the federal courts have now, in effect, placed a statute of limitations on challenging at least some violations of the First Amendment. If enough time has gone by, the promotion and endorsement of a particular religion or of particular religious beliefs is no longer "religious" but, rather, "historical" and as such can continue unhindered. Because there is a time limit, no new endorsements can be allowed to go unchallenged in the future. If you don't protect your rights, your grandchildren won't have any left to defend themselves.

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