Constitutionality debated in suit over monument

By Rachel Tuinstra
Times Snohomish County Bureau

ALAN BERNER / THE SEATTLE TIMES Jesse Card wants the city of Everett to remove a monument engraved with the Ten Commandments from in front of the police department.

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Everett resident Jesse Card is suing the city, claiming that the 6-foot-tall granite monument violates the constitutional principle of the separation of church and state because it sits on city property, in front of the Everett Police Department. He wants it removed.

Card's legal case is being coordinated through Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a Washington, D.C.-based group that has initiated similar lawsuits throughout the country.

The city has thus far spent about $112,000 defending itself against the suit, arguing that the monument has historic value — it was donated to the city by the Everett Fraternal Order of Eagles in 1959 as part of a national movement to encourage a code of ethics among youth.

The program to donate such monuments to cities was backed by motion-picture director Cecil B. DeMille to promote his 1956 film, "The Ten Commandments."

	Judge Robert Lasnik is presiding over the case.

Yesterday's hearing in U.S. District Court marked the first time that either side has argued the case before a judge.

It will be up to District Court Judge Robert Lasnik to decide whether the case should move forward to a trial, or if it should be dismissed in favor of Card or the city. Lasnik said he will probably issue a decision in the next two to three weeks and that he will likely visit Everett to view the monument. "It's clear this is an issue that creates a lot of emotion," Lasnik said during yesterday's hour-and-a-half-long hearing. "And it's clear it's created a lot of case law lately."

However, the outcomes of other cases throughout the nation have been conflicting, making the legal waters murky regarding religious monuments and displays.

Case law on the issue is split: Recent lawsuits involving Ten Commandments monuments in Utah, Colorado, Pennsylvania and Texas were dismissed and the monuments were allowed to stay on public property. Some of those cases are being appealed.

Other cities, including Boise, Idaho, have voluntarily removed a Ten Commandments monument from public property for fear of being sued for having a religious monument in a public park.

Ben Block, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney for Card, argued that the text of the monument represents Judeo-Christian values, and that religious symbols, such as the star of David, are engraved in the stone. He said that a reasonable observer would conclude that the city endorses the message on the monument.

"Even if the city doesn't care if you believe the message, it is saying it thinks it's an important enough message to put in front of one of its municipal buildings," Block said.

The city is not endorsing religion by displaying the monument, said Stephen Smith, a First Amendment attorney with Preston, Gates & Ellis, a Seattle law firm contracted by Everett to handle this case.

"It has rested passively on city property for 45 years," Smith said. "The city hasn't tried to highlight it through lighting. There have been no religious ceremonies there after it was dedicated."

Card, who appeared in court wearing a T-shirt, necktie and black blazer, describes himself as a "humanist" — someone who believes in ethical conduct but without recourse of a higher power or god.

He said he would often see the monument from a bus stop in front of the Everett Police Department that he used for getting to and from work.

"I don't think government should tell people how to think," Card said.

Card's lawsuit has galvanized Everett, with some residents saying the city should continue to fight the removal of the display despite the mounting cost. Others, including a group of religious leaders, say the issue is doing more harm than good and that the city should move the monument.

While the Eagles support the city in the lawsuit, they also have offered to take the monument back if the city decides to move it.

Rachel Tuinstra: 425-783-0674

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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