INDIANAPOLIS — The legal battle over restoring a historical marker to the Indiana Statehouse lawn has intensified as Indiana Governor Mike Braun formally asked a federal court to dismiss a decades-old lawsuit brought by the ACLU of Indiana.
The state is moving to lift a 2000 injunction that has blocked the installation of an 11,500-pound limestone Ten Commandments monument at the center of state government for over two decades.
Key Details of the Case
The massive 7-foot, 11,500-pound limestone marker was donated by the Indiana Limestone Institute to replace an older monument originally placed in 1958 and toppled by a vandal in 1991. Designed with four sides, the replacement marker features the Ten Commandments, the U.S. Bill of Rights, and the Preamble to the 1851 Indiana Constitution. It has remained outside a church in Bedford, Indiana, since the original injunction halted its placement.
The State is represented by Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, Solicitor General James Barta, and attorneys from the religious liberty firm Becket. Governor Braun argues that the legal landscape surrounding the Establishment Clause has shifted dramatically. The state points to landmark U.S. Supreme Court decisions such as Kennedy v. Bremerton School District and Van Orden v. Perry, arguing that the old “Lemon test”—which lower courts used in 2000 to block the display—is obsolete and that jurisprudence now relies heavily on history and tradition.
The ACLU of Indiana contends that placing the religious monument on public Statehouse grounds remains an unconstitutional government endorsement of religion in violation of the First Amendment. The organization maintains that the underlying constitutional law has not fundamentally changed regarding state endorsements of religious texts on public property.
A Decades-Long Dispute
The current litigation revives a legal feud that began when former Governor Frank O’Bannon accepted the Indiana Limestone Institute’s replacement marker in 2000. Before it could be installed on the grounds, the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit, leading a federal court to issue an injunction.
Supporters of the monument, including Governor Braun and Attorney General Rokita, argue that the monument honors foundational historical texts and that the state should not be barred from displaying its history. Conversely, civil liberties advocates argue that moving the stone to the Statehouse lawn crosses the line separating church and state.
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana is reviewing the state’s motion for summary judgment and request to dissolve the long-standing injunction.
