Judge rules Ten Commandments monument must go

BLOOMFIELD, N.M. — A federal judge says a New Mexico city must remove a monument inscribed with the Ten Commandments from the lawn in front of Bloomfield City Hall.

The Daily Times reports that Senior U.S. District Judge James A. Parker issued a ruling Thursday in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, saying the monument constitutes government speech and has the “principal effect of endorsing religion.”

In a 32-page opinion, Parker says the city of Bloomfield clearly violated the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause and must take the monument down by Sept. 10.

The suit was filed on behalf of two Bloomfield residents, who say the monument violates their religious freedoms.

City attorneys say private individuals erected and paid for the monument under a 2007 city resolution.

Associated Press

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