Ten Commandments rulings from the Magic 8-Ball: "Yes," "No," "Ask Again Later"

Okay, is everybody clear?

The Ten Commandments display on the grounds of the Texas capitol does not violate the First Amendment. The Ten Commandments display in a Kentucky courthouse does.

In the future, the U.S. Supreme Court reserves the right to allow or ban displays of the Ten Commandments depending on whether they go too far in promoting religion.

In each of these two cases the justices split five to four, which means the entire issue turns on the next justice's view of how far is too far.

This incoherent comedy is the inevitable result of something you probably have never heard of: the Supreme Court's 80-year-old "incorporation doctrine."

Take five minutes and read "Cornered: The Supreme Court's Ten Commandments Problem" and "How the First Amendment Came to Protect Topless Dancing" to find out what's really going on here. It's worse than you think.


Copyright 2005

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