Indiana – A monument intended for the Indiana Statehouse lawn is still in Bedford, caught in a legal fight that has lasted 26 years. Attorney General Todd Rokita is asking a federal court to clear its path to Indianapolis.
His office has filed a motion for summary judgment seeking to resolve the dispute and allow the donated monument to be installed. Its inscriptions bring together the Ten Commandments, the Bill of Rights and the Preamble to the Indiana Constitution.
The effort reaches back to a display that stood on the Statehouse grounds for more than 30 years. After that monument was vandalized and damaged in 1991, the state accepted a replacement from the Indiana Limestone Institute.
But a court blocked its placement in 2000, leaving the replacement without its intended home.
Rokita says changes in Supreme Court precedent now support allowing the display. His office’s argument centers on the legal standard behind the original restriction, which came from a 1971 ruling that the Supreme Court has since abandoned.
“The Ten Commandments, the Bill of Rights, and our state Constitution’s Preamble are foundational to the laws and liberties Hoosiers live under every day, and protecting those principles is exactly what my office works to do,” Rokita said.
He also sharply criticized those opposing the monument and described the case as an overdue priority for his office.
“After more than two decades of inaction by others, I am taking on this fight and pursuing this case because it is long past time to relocate and display this monument where it rightfully belongs, and we will continue working to ensure a small group of radical activists, backed by the ACLU, doesn’t prevent us from doing so.”
The state’s legal position draws on later Supreme Court decisions addressing religion on public property. In Van Orden v. Perry, the court upheld a Ten Commandments monument at the Texas Capitol, considering its historical setting. In Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, it abandoned the earlier Lemon test in favor of an approach grounded in history and tradition. Indiana argues that those decisions support its proposed display.
Joseph Davis, senior counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and an attorney representing Indiana, said the organization supports Rokita’s effort.
“We’re grateful Attorney General Rokita is taking on this important fight,” Davis said.
“The Supreme Court has said time and again that states are free to acknowledge their full history and culture, including the parts that happen to be religious. We’re proud to stand with the Attorney General in supporting Indiana’s effort to continue that tradition.”
The state’s filing asks the court to resolve the case in Indiana’s favor. For now, the monument remains in Bedford. If the state succeeds, it would be moved to the Statehouse lawn near the location originally planned for it, bringing a dispute stretching back to 2000 closer to an end.
