[JURIST] The US Supreme Court has ruled that the Ten Commandments can be displayed on the grounds of a state capitol building. The US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals had previously ruled [PDF] in Van Orden v. Perry [Northwestern University backgrounder] that a six-foot-tall display of the Commandments on the grounds of the Texas state capitol in Austin was constitutionally acceptable because it had a secular purpose and a resaonable viewer touring the capitol grounds would not conclude that the state was endorsing the Commandments' religious message. Read the Court's opinion [PDF]. AP has more.
The high court ruling follows one announced earlier Monday that held that courthouse displays of the Commandments were constitutionaly prohibited [JURIST report].