Michigan governor changes stand on display of Ten Commandments News
Michigan governor changes stand on display of Ten Commandments

[JURIST] Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm [official site] backed off her earlier support for displaying the Ten Commandments in the state Capitol, and said on Monday that she now believes such a display would be unconstitutional. On Friday, the governor had said she did not object to such a display. "I know that will make some people mad. But I think they are universal values," she said on a public television program. "That is not promoting a particular religion. That is just recognizing some universal values," she added. On Monday, however, she withdrew her earlier comments, and stated that she was merely speaking personally. "I'm not interested in violating the United States Constitution," she told AP interviewers. In response to the Friday comments, the American Family Association of Michigan [official site] announced it would seek permission to temporarily display the Ten Commandments monument which was removed from an Alabama judicial building last year. That monument now is on a national tour. Former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore [CNN profile] was removed from the Alabama court in November 2003 after refusing a federal judge's order to remove the monument from public display. Moore appealed his ouster to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the Court would not hear the case. [PDF, order denying certiorari] AP has more.