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Wednesday, June 22, 2011

ACLU-NM Investigates Constitutionality of Bloomfield Ten Commandments Monument

ACLU-NM Investigates Constitutionality of Bloomfield
Ten Commandments Monument

ACLU-NM Investigates Constitutionality of Bloomfield Ten Commandments
Monument

June 22, 2011

CONTACT: Micah McCoy (505) 266-5915 x.1003 or mmccoy@aclu-nm.org

BLOOMFIELD, NM - Today, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New
Mexico
filed an Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA) request with the
City of Bloomfield, NM, requesting records regarding the city's planned
Ten Commandments monument. The monument, soon to be installed in front
of the city hall, may violate the First Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution which prohibits the government from establishing or
endorsing religious beliefs. Through this IRPA request, the ACLU of New
Mexico seeks to determine whether the City of Bloomfield chose to erect
this monument for a religious purpose.



"Religious freedom thrives when the government stays out of religion and
does not endorse one faith over another," said ACLU-NM Executive
Director Peter Simonson. "Matters of religious belief should be left to
individuals, families and faith communities, not to governments or
political majorities."



Federal courts have repeatedly affirmed that the First Amendment
prohibits the government from promoting one religion over another, or
even showing preference between religion and non-religion. In many
cases, monuments on public property featuring the Ten Commandments have
been ruled as unconstitutional.



As recently as 2009, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the
Haskell County, Oklahoma to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the
county courthouse grounds, saying that a "reasonable observer" would
conclude that the monument was an endorsement of religion. The county's
defense of the monument cost local taxpayers $200,000 in legal fees.



"Which version of the Ten Commandments will the City of Bloomfield
choose to endorse?" questioned ACLU-NM Staff Attorney Leon Howard.
"Catholic? Protestant? Hebraic? The versions are all different. The City
can't erect the monument without snubbing one religious faith or
another."

Micah McCoy
Communications Specialist
ACLU of New Mexico
Office: (505) 266-5915 Ext. 1003
Mobile: (972) 740-6675
http://www.aclu-nm.org/

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