Attorney General Leslie Rutledge will rise to the defense of Sen. Jason Rapert’s monument to the Christian religion when the Ten Commandments tablet is re-installed on the Capitol grounds and the lawsuits over state promotion of religion follow.
She’s getting in some early practice, by supporting the mixing of church and state in New Mexico.
Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge has joined a 23-state coalition in filing an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of Bloomfield, New Mexico’s Ten Commandments monument on its city hall lawn. Earlier this year, a divided 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to reconsider a three-judge panel’s decision upholding a district court’s order to remove the monument.
Rutledge is urging the justices to hear the case and decide in favor of the New Mexico town.
“Displaying the 10 Commandments, which many acknowledge as a significant basis for American law, is perfectly constitutional,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “However, this is an area of the law that is not being applied consistently and the U.S. Supreme Court must weigh in and offer much-needed clarity.”
This is another of the Republican agenda items being pursued in concert with other Republican legal officials — opposed to equal rights for LGBT; opposed to women’s medical rights; opposed to clean air and water rules; opposed to consumer protection
The Republicans argue that a “reliable metric” is necessary from U.S. courts on acceptable displays. (Presumably all of them with Christian roots, I’d guess. No Baphomets allowed.)
