Source: The Houston Chronicle
On February 26, 2002, The Houston Chronicle reported that "for the second time in a year, the Supreme Court refused Monday
to review a lower court's ban on displaying the Ten Commandments on government
property, leaving states in confusion over whether such monuments are
constitutional... Attorneys general in nine states, including Texas, had urged the court to
hear the matter to resolve conflicting court opinions around the country. Judges
in Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin have forbidden Ten Commandments monuments on
public property, but judges in Oklahoma, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Wyoming
and Utah have allowed them...
The Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for
Separation of Church and State, which opposes religious displays on public
property, applauded the court's action.
'Public buildings should display patriotic symbols that bring us together,
not religious symbols that divide us,' he said."