august 17, 2006
Idaho Supreme Court Allows Voter Initiative on Public Display of Ten Commandments
In a 4 to 1 decision, the Idaho Supreme Court ruled that the citizens of Boise, Idaho have the right to vote on returning a display of the Ten Commandments that was removed from a Boise public park.
A Ten Commandments monument was removed in March 2004 from Julia Davis Park by order of the Boise City Council. The citizens of Boise mounted a petition drive in the summer of 2004 and gathered 19,000 signatures to have a voter initiative to return the monument.
Even after the signatures were gathered the Boise City Council refused to put the voter initiative on the ballot.
The Keep the Commandments Coalition filed suit to have the Ten Commandments voter initiative put on the ballot and on August 14th, the Idaho Supreme Court overwhelmingly agreed with the Coalition.
Brandi Swindell, National Director of Generation Life, a Co-chair of the Keep the Commandments Coalition, comments, “Today the Idaho Supreme Court affirmed the core principles of democracy and the right of Boise citizens to vote. This is not only a victory for the Keep the Commandment Coalition and the citizens of Boise, but a victory for all Americans who cherish liberty and the democratic freedoms our country was founded on."
"It is also a victory for religious expression in the public square," Swindell continues, "and marks the first time in our nation’s history that a vote will be held on the public display of the Ten Commandments. It is our hope that other cities will follow our lead and hold similar initiatives.”
Rev. Bryan Fischer, Executive Director of the Idaho Values Alliance and Co-chair of the Keep the Commandments Coalition, states, "We are ecstatic over this Ten Commandments ruling. All we have asked for from day one is for the citizens of Boise to have the right to vote. And, now we are getting it."
"The Ten Commandments monument clearly poses no constitutional problem," Fischer explains. "You can find the Ten Commandments in four different places in the United States Supreme Court building. If it is good enough for the Supreme Court, it should be good enough for a Boise public park."
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