The Ten Commandments monument designed by Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore is pictured at the State Judicial Building in Montgomery, Ala.,in this Aug 7, 2001, file photo. U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson ruled Monday, Nov. 18, 2002, that th
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A Ten Commandments monument in the rotunda of Alabama's judicial building violates the constitution's ban on government promotion of religion, a federal judge ruled Monday.
U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson gave Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, who had had the 5,300-pound granite monument installed in the state building, 30 days to remove it.
Moore testified during the trial that the commandments are the moral foundation of American law. He said the monument acknowledges God, but does not force anyone to follow his conservative Christian religious beliefs.
A lawsuit seeking removal of the monument argued that it promoted the judge's faith in violation of the constitution's ban on government establishment of religion.
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