Federal judge says religious monument can stay at school
PITTSBURGH – A federal judge has ruled that a Ten Commandments monument at a western Pennsylvania school violates the U.S. Constitution, but did not order that it be removed.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review said Friday’s ruling by Senior U.S. District Judge Terrence McVerry left both sides claiming victory,
The dispute is over the 4½-foot monument that has stood on the property of Connellsville Area Junior High School since the 1950s.
The judge says the monument violates the establishment clause of the First Amendment, which bars the government from endorsing a particular religion. But he said he did not order that the monument be removed because the family who originally objected to it no longer attends or visits the school.