It will be a short stroll for Faith and Action if the evangelical Christian organization is forced into a legal battle over its efforts to display an 850-pound granite Ten Commandments monument in its front garden.
After all, its Capitol Hill ministry is all of 30 feet from the U.S. Supreme Court.
“We would love to discuss this in front of the nine justices,” said the Rev. Rob Schenck, Faith and Action president.
“Our legal team is prepared to take this all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary,” he said.
With picketers settled on the sidewalk outside the Second StreetNE row house, Faith and Action on Saturday unveiled the marker and said it has no intention of removing it or seeking a permit from the District government.
The monument in “arguably the most powerful neighborhood in the world,” as one reverend said, has been erected with the goal of influencing the justices as they go to work in the morning.
“The only time the First Amendment is converted into a gag rule is when it involves religion,” said David New, the group’s attorney.
Faith and Action has been told by the city to either begin the permit process within 30 days or remove the monument.
Not doing so could result in a $300-per-day fine.
“In addition, if a permit application is not filed or it is denied, the costs associated with any remediation necessary are recoverable in the same manner as all other general taxes in the District, including the forced sale of your property,” Lamont Regester, chief of the Office of Infrastructure Oversight, wrote to the group in a June 2 letter.
Protesters say Capitol Hill’s designation as a historic district makes the home’s front garden public property.
The monument, then, requires a permit that Faith and Action has yet to acquire.
“It’s an intrusion on the separation of church and state, and they know that,” said Rick Wingrove, Capitol Hill representative with American Atheists. “This is a confrontation.”
The Christian group responded that its monument is a temporary display and therefore is not tied to the permit process.
The push to remove the monument “is an act of bigotry toward faith,” said the Rev. Patrick Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition.
The U.S. Supreme Court and the Commandments
Justices reached two conclusions last year with regard to Ten Commandments displays:
» Struck down Kentucky courthouse displays as overtly religious
» Upheld a Texas Capitol display as secular and educational in nature
