Mike Suetkamp Challenged Monument As Unconstitutional

he town of Elkhart, Indiana is abandoning its legal effort to defend the display of a stone Ten Commandments monument which has stood in the municipal square since 1958.

   The constitutionality of the cenotaph had been challenged by two residents including Indiana American Atheists State Director Mike Suetkamp. Together with the help of attorney Ken Falk of the state Civil Liberties Union, they waged a four year battle that encountered repeated efforts by the city to circumvent court orders, and even arguments that the Commandments had nothing to do with religion.

   Elkhart Mayor David Miller is expected to announce that the monument will be relocated to private property. The decision comes after the city attempted to "secularize" the display with the addition of historical monuments, but was turned down by U.S. District Judge Allen Sharp last month. Yesterday was the deadline for officials to come up with a new plan.

   Miller told reporters that the ruling "really took the wind out of our sails."

   "This is not my money I'm spending, and I'm painfully aware of that," grumbled the mayor. He added that Elkhart has already expended $60,000 trying to defend the legality of the Commandments monument.

   The decision could affect other cases throughout the country where various presentation of the Commandments on public building are being contested in the courts. In December, 200, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the monument was religious in nature, and that its presence on public land violated the separation of church and state. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from the city, and settlement talks began with the plaintiffs.

   The Commandments, donated to the city by the Fraternal Order of Eagles, will now be removed from the public square and situated on private land adjacent to the Main Street bridge over the St. Joseph River. Miller said that the new location will be more visible, and raised the possibility that the display would be illuminated and landscaped. That would have to be done with private money, however.

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   Mr. Falk praised the decision. "This is what we wanted all along," he told reporters. "The free exercise clause (of the Constitution) allows people to put things on private property, and we certainly support that."

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