United States Sixth Circuit

In a highly publicized case involving the display of framed copies of the Ten Commandments in Kentucky county courthouses, judgment of the district court, inter alia, declaring the displays unconstitutional and enjoining defendants is affirmed where: 1) district court erred in declining to enter a permanent injunction against defendants in its September 28, 2007 order after finding that defendants had violated the Establishment Clause, but the court rectified that error by properly enjoining defendants from posting the displays in an August 4, 2008 order, as the fact that defendants seek to minimize the residue of religious purpose does not mean that plaintiffs do not suffer continuing irreparable injury so long as the display remains on the walls of the county courthouses; 2) regardless of whether plaintiffs' motion should have been classified under Rule 59(e) or Rule 54(b), the district court did not err in reconsidering its earlier decision and determining that plaintiffs were entitled to a permanent injunction; and 3) because the district court entered judgment in the same decision that it construed defendants' renewed motion for summary judgment as one for relief from judgment under Rule 60(b), it was reasonable for the district court to construe the entry of judgment as coming before the conversion of defendants' motion.

Appellate Information

• Argued 10/20/2009
• Decided 06/09/2010
• Published 06/09/2010

Judges

• Before: RYAN, CLAY, and GIBBONS, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Sixth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• ARGUED:Mathew D. Staver, Liberty Counsel, Orlando, Florida, for Appellants. David A. Friedman, American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, Louisville, Kentucky, for Appellees. ON BRIEF:Mathew D. Staver, Liberty Counsel, Orlando, Florida, Stephen M. Crampton, Mary E. McAlister, Liberty Counsel, Lynchburg, Virginia, for Appellants. David A. Friedman, William E. Sharp, American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, Louisville, Kentucky, for Appellees. John A. Eidsmoe, Foundation for Moral Law, Montgomery, Alabama, for Amicus Curiae.