Oklahoma Voters Reject Proposal to Allow Ten Commandments at State Capitol
ICC Note: A monument displaying the Ten Commandments on Oklahoma state capitol grounds has yet again come up for debate, this time in the form of a ballot proposal. On Election Day, voters opted to reject a ballot proposal which would allow government to use public property to benefit any religion, thereby rejecting the presence of this particular monument on government property. As previously reported, following a decision from the Oklahoma Supreme Court, this monument was removed from state capitol grounds in late 2015.
By Heather Clark
11/09/2016 United States (Christian News Network) – Voters in Oklahoma have rejected a ballot proposal that would have allowed the Ten Commandments to be displayed on the grounds of the state capitol building.
As of press time, State Question 790 had failed with over 55 percent of voters saying no an initiative that asked whether or not the state Constitution should be amended to allow government property to be used for religious benefit.
“This measure would remove Article 2, Section 5 of the Oklahoma Constitution, which prohibits the government from using public money or property for the direct or indirect benefit of any religion or religious institution,” the ballot question read.
“Article 2, Section 5 has been interpreted by the Oklahoma courts as requiring the removal of a Ten Commandments monument from the grounds of the State Capitol,” it explained. “If this measure repealing Article 2, Section 5 is passed, the government would still be required to comply with the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution, which is a similar constitutional provision that prevents the government from endorsing a religion or becoming overly involved with religion.”
As previously reported, a Ten Commandments monument was removed from the Capitol grounds in October 2015 after the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that the display violated Article 2, Section 5, of the Oklahoma Constitution, which states that property cannot be used to promote a “church denomination or system of religion.”
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Oklahoma was at the helm of the legal effort to have the monument removed, as it asserted that the placement of the Decalogue on the grounds of the state capitol building was unconstitutional. The lead plaintiff in the case was liberal minister Bruce Prescott, the director of Mainstream Oklahoma Baptists.