Religious Monument to Go Up Across from Supreme Court

May 31, 2006 - 9:41am

The monument will sit in the front yard of Faith and Action's townhouse. (Photo courtesy of Faith and Action Ministries Web site)

Mark Segraves, WTOP Radio

WASHINGTON - A religious group has erected a monument of the Ten Commandments across from the United States Supreme Court, despite not having the required permit.

The Rev. Rob Schenck of Faith and Action Ministries plans to unveil the 850-pound granite sculpture on Saturday. It's part of his Ten Commandments Project, which has a mission, in part, "to return the Word of God to the halls of government." Faith and Action has a ministry center on Capitol Hill directly behind the Supreme Court Building on 2nd Street NE.

The monument is "visible to the nine justices as they arrive and leave each day, along with thousands of others who serve in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate," Faith and Action's Web site says.

In 2001 Schenck applied for the necessary public space permit from the District government and was denied. Since then the monument has been in storage. Until now.

The monument, wrapped in plastic until the unveiling, now sits in the front yard of Faith and Action's townhouse on 2nd Street. In many parts of Washington, D.C. a resident's front yard is technically public space and subject to government regulation.

Schenck, who did not return WTOP's calls, acknowledges on his Web site that he is going ahead despite not having the permit.

"We jumped through all the hoops, ad absurdum," Schenck says on his site about his first attempts to secure the proper permissions for the display. "In our immediate area, people have all kinds of artistic and not-so-artistic items in their gardens, none of which need formal permits. But we wanted to go above and beyond requirements, so we tried. It turned into a circus."

Schenck was part of an effort to display a similar monument in the Alabama State judicial building several years ago. That monument was later removed by a federal court order.

It remains unclear what D.C. officials will do in this case. Schenck tested the waters for this display this past Christmas by erecting a nativity scene in the same spot. The District did not fine him for that.

Mark Segraves, WTOP Radio

WASHINGTON - A religious group has erected a monument of the Ten Commandments across from the United States Supreme Court, despite not having the required permit.

In 2001 Schenck applied for the necessary public space permit from the District government and was denied. Since then the monument has been in storage. Until now.

Schenck, who did not return WTOP's calls, acknowledges on his Web site that he is going ahead despite not having the permit.

Schenck was part of an effort to display a similar monument in the Alabama State judicial building several years ago. That monument was later removed by a federal court order.

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