What a turbulent year thus far for the Arizona Capitol! First, our lawmakers sold the capitol buildings to raise $750 million and keep the state solvent for a few more months. And now the legislators, or ‘renters’, are putting together a ‘tenant-improvement’ plan to publicly display the Ten Commandments on the recently-sold estate.
On a partisan 5-3 vote, the Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee overcame Democrat objections to move the bill along to the full Senate for consideration. However, before sending the bill to the full Senate, one key amendment was tacked on: No public money can be used to finance the display.
Arizona would not be the first state to place the Ten Commandments on government property. Texas and Kentucky have each done so and have ended up with different opinions from the Supreme Court. The Court ruled against the Ten Commandments in a Kentucky courthouse because it was believed that the display had religious agenda. According to Justice Breyer, the Kentucky display was a government effort to ‘substantially promote religion’.
But the same Court allowed the Ten Commandments to remain in front of the Texas Capitol because the monument was considered more benign. The Court reasoned that the display in Austin is more symbolic and focuses merely on the relationship between religion and government. Justice Breyer, the swing vote in the two cases, considered the Texas display a ‘mixed but primarily non-religious purpose’.
It’s obvious that uncertainties exist in how the courts apply the law. For the moment, courts are ruling on these matters on a case-by-case basis. But if one thing is certain, this effort, led by Sen. Russell Pearce (R-Mesa), will conjure the familiar debate over the separation of church and state.
Some of the talking points have already been laid on the table. Sen. Amanda Aguirre (D-Yuma) believes that displaying the religious symbol in front of a government building is basically “imposing our religious beliefs on other folks that have their own God.”
Sen. Rebecca Rios (D-Apache Junction) claimed that the marker would be an act of religious intolerance since ‘not all Americans subscribe to religions that follow the Bible or the Ten Commandments.’
Sen. Paula Aboud (D-Tucson) asked whether or not Sen. Pearce would support other religions being allowed to put their commandments at the Capitol.
But Sen. Pearce, likely aware of the 2005 Supreme Court ruling on the Kentucky and Texas displays, maintained that the monument at the Arizona capitol has ‘nothing to do with religion’. Sen. Pearce carefully responded to Sen. Paula Aboud’s inquiry by referencing America’s founding on the principles and content laid out in the Ten Commandments.
If Sen. Pearce and his supporters hope to pass the measure, they will have to convince the courts that the display has a similar intent as the monument in front of the Texas Capitol. It will certainly be among the more interesting issues debated at the Capitol this year. Now, if thou shall just fix the state’s budget crisis…
Neil Rosekrans is a founder and partner of StateBrief.com. He has been a guest political commentator for the Arizona Law Channel, NBC's Sunday Square Off and The Terry Gilberg Show on KFYI. Neil earned his undergraduate degree from Cornell University and earned his MBA and Masters in Public Policy, with an emphasis in International Relations, from Pepperdine University.
Neil and his wife, Beth, live in Scottsdale, Arizona. 
