Did you know an image of Moses is depicted on the Supreme Court building? In two places the Ten Commandments are shown with Roman numerals. Among the collected figures and reliefs decorating the building, it is Moses who represents the intimate connection between God’s Law and man’s law. The representation, in short, shows a traditional and legal acknowledgment of his impact on American law.
To some, the inscribed images might be interpreted to guarantee a simple recognition of religious liberties such as praying in the shadow of the Supreme Court building.
Supreme Court officials have been challenged in a recent letter to address this assumption.
On May 5th, a group of young Christian students was allegedly ordered to stop praying on the steps of the Supreme Court by a court police officer who told them it was against the law.
The students from Wickenburg Christian Academy in Arizona were part of an American History class that visited the Supreme Court building. The teacher, Maureen Rigo, gathered the children into a circle at the bottom of the steps. They all bowed their heads and began to pray.
According to Nate Kellum, senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, a police officer “abruptly” interrupted the prayer. The group was ordered to cease and desist. “They were told to stop praying because they were violating the law and they had to take their prayer elsewhere,” Kellum told FOX News Radio. The Alliance Defense Fund was contacted by Rigo after the incident.
Sonoran News reports that the police officer tapped Rigo on the shoulder and said, “Ma’am, I’m not going to tell you that you can’t pray, but you can’t do it here. Please go somewhere else.”
ADF reported. “The prayer was stopped based on a statute, 40 U.S.C. §6135, which bars parades and processions on Supreme Court grounds.” The statute reads in part:
It is unlawful to parade, stand, or move in processions or assemblages in the Supreme Court Building or grounds, or to display in the Building and grounds a flag, banner, or device designed or adapted to bring into public notice a party, organization, or movement.
The application of the statute however is misplaced, according to Kellum.
“Mrs. Rigo was not engaging in a parade, procession or assembly. She was speaking in a conversational level to those around her with her head bowed,” a letter signed by ADF attorney Nathan Kellum explains. “There is no reason to silence Mrs. Rigo’s activities since these activities do not attract attention, create a crowd or give off the appearance of impartiality. The ban on public prayers cannot hope to survive First Amendment scrutiny.”
Kellum continues, “The wording of the statute does not seemingly contemplate quiet prayers like Mrs. Rigo’s…Such prayers are ‘not designed or adopted to bring’ Mrs. Rigo ‘into public notice.’ Indeed, Mrs. Rigo’s prayers were not communicated to anyone outside of God and her very small group.” Kellum adds, “[T]he Supreme Court police have..targeted a particular viewpoint for censorship. They have singled out and censored religious prayer as the only form of conversation to be silenced.”
The ADF sent a letter to US Supreme Court officials (July 15th) to stop police officers from restricting praying on building grounds.
According to the World Net Daily report, Police have three weeks to respond. Failure to do so will trigger ADF legal action to protect Rigo’s constitutional rights.
What should the Supreme Court officials do? What do you think?
Let NEST know by posting your comment.
By John M. DeMassa
