(FRANKFORT, Ky.) — A Ten Commandments monument that stood at the Kentucky Capitol for nearly three decades returned to the statehouse grounds Wednesday, marking the end of a legal battle that began at the turn of the century.
The granite monument, originally installed in 1971, was removed following a 2000 lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union. Its return comes after Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman issued a formal legal opinion in February concluding that displaying the Ten Commandments on Capitol grounds does not violate the First Amendment.
“The Ten Commandments are at the heart of America’s history and founding, so it is only right that they also sit at the heart of our Commonwealth’s Capitol grounds,” Coleman said Wednesday at a ceremony marking the monument’s reinstallation.
The Kentucky General Assembly subsequently passed House Joint Resolution 15, sponsored by Rep. Shane Baker, R-Somerset, authorizing the monument’s return.
The monument’s removal stemmed from a 2000 court ruling that relied on the “Lemon test,” a legal standard for evaluating First Amendment cases. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned that precedent in 2022, clearing the path for the display to return.
Coleman credited Solicitor General Matt Kuhn with locating the monument and working to restore it to the Capitol grounds.
“The Ten Commandments have widely recognized historical significance in the history of the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the nation,” Baker said in a statement.
Supporters of the display point to depictions of the Ten Commandments in federal buildings, including the U.S. Supreme Court, as evidence of their historical role in American legal tradition.
The return of the Kentucky monument comes as Coleman has taken a leading role nationally on the issue. Last December, he led an 18-state coalition supporting a Louisiana law that would require Ten Commandments displays in public school classrooms with explanatory context statements.
