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Unusual Delay of Oral Arguments In Summum Case Requested, But Apparently Ignored

By Howard M. Friedman

Last Monday, a letter was delivered to Chief Justice John Roberts making an unusual request in connection with the then-upcoming oral arguments in Pleasant Grove City v. Summum. At issue in the case was a request by Summum to post a 7 Aphorisms monument in a city park where a 10 Commandments monument already stands. The letter from Robert Ritter, president of the Jefferson Madison Center for Religious Liberty (full text), asked the Court to postpone the scheduled oral arguments "until such time as the Court publicly discloses ... that a literal translation of the Hebrew on the tablet that Moses is holding on the Court's South Wall Frieze is opposite of the Ten Commandments...."

At issue is a depiction in the Supreme Court building of Moses holding two tablets, with his robe and beard hiding much of the lettering on them. So, for example, the Hebrew inscription for "Thou shall not murder" is partially covered so the Hebrew word "lo" ("thou shalt not") is hidden. Ritter's letter suggests that the Court's 2005 decision in Van Orden v. Perry, upholding a 10 Commandments display on the Texas state capitol grounds, was influenced by the belief that the display in the U.S. Supreme Court was an accurate rendition of the Decalogue. In his majority opinion in Van Orden, Chief Justice Rehnquist wrote: "Since 1935, Moses has stood, holding two tablets that reveal portions of the Ten Commandments written in Hebrew, among other lawgivers in the south frieze."

The Supreme Court's docket entries in the Pleasant Grove City case do not reflect that the Ritter's letter was made part of the formal file in the case.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on November 14, 2008 (boomark / email).