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''Van Orden v. Perry'', , was a United States Supreme Court case involving whether a display of the Ten Commandments on a monument given to the government at the Texas State Capitol in Austin violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. In a suit brought by Thomas Van Orden of Austin, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled in November 2003 that the displays were constitutional, on the grounds that the monument conveyed both a religious and secular message. Van Orden appealed, and in October 2004 the high court agreed to hear the case at the same time as it heard ''McCreary County v. ACLU of Kentucky'', a similar case challenging a display of the Ten Commandments at two county courthouses in Kentucky. The appeal of the 5th Circuit's decision was argued by Erwin Chemerinsky, a constitutional law scholar and the Alston & Bird Professor of Law at Duke University School of Law, who represented Van Orden on a ''pro bono'' basis. Texas' case was argued by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. An ''amicus curiae'' was presented on behalf of the respondents (the state of Texas) by then-Solicitor General Paul Clement. The Supreme Court ruled on June 27, 2005, by a vote of 5 to 4, that the display was constitutional. Chief Justice William Rehnquist delivered the plurality opinion of the Court; Justice Stephen Breyer concurred in the judgment but wrote separately. The similar case of ''McCreary County v. ACLU of Kentucky'' was handed down the same day with the opposite result (also with a 5 to 4 decision). The "swing vote" in both cases was Breyer. == Background == The monument challenged was 6-feet high and 3-feet wide. It was donated to the State of Texas in 1961 by the Fraternal Order of Eagles, a civic organization, with the support of Cecil B. DeMille, who had directed the film ''The Ten Commandments''. The State accepted the monument and selected a site for it based on the recommendation of the state agency responsible for maintaining the Capitol grounds. The donating organization paid for its erection. Two state legislators presided over the dedication of the monument. The monument was erected on the Capitol grounds, behind the capitol building (between the Texas Capitol and Supreme Court buildings). The surrounding 22 acres (89,000 m²) contained 17 monuments and 21 historical markers commemorating the "people, ideals, and events that compose Texan identity." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Van Orden v. Perry」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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