Who Supports These Bills?
Senate Engrossed
House Bill
State of Arizona
House of
Representatives
Forty-seventh
Legislature
Second Regular
Session
2006
HOUSE CONCURRENT MEMORIAL 2011
A CONCURRENT MEMORIAL
URGING THE UNITED
STATES CONGRESS TO PERMANENTLY REPEAL THE DEATH TAX, TO DISSOLVE UNITED STATES MEMBERSHIP IN THE UNITED
NATIONS AND TO REMOVE SPECIFIC
AREAS RELATING TO FAITH FROM THE JURISDICTION OF THE UNITED STATES SUPREME
COURT.
…H.C.M. 2011
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H.C.M. 2011
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37 Whereas, on June 27, 2005, the United
States Supreme Court, in two
38 razor thin majorities of
5-4, concluded that it is consistent with the First
39 Amendment to display the Ten
Commandments in an outdoor public square in
40 Texas,
but not on the courthouse walls of two counties in Kentucky;
and
41 Whereas, many Americans are
deeply puzzled as to how the Court could
42 produce two opposite results
involving the same Ten Commandments; and
43 Whereas, it is appropriate
to observe that, based on the Kentucky
44 decision, it is acceptable
to display the Ten Commandments in a county
45 courthouse, provided you do
not believe in God; and
H.C.M.
2011
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1 Whereas, Justice Scalia, in
the Kentucky case,
used these words to
2 emphasize the importance of
the Ten Commandments to most Americans: "The
3 three most popular religions
in the United States,
Christianity, Judaism and
4 Islam—which combined account
for 97.7% of all believers—are
5 monotheistic…[a]ll of them,
moreover (Islam included), believe that the Ten
6 Commandments were given by
God to Moses, and are divine prescriptions for a
7 virtuous life"; and
8 Whereas, very recent polling
data by a major Washington, D.C.
paper
9 revealed that a huge majority
of the American people supports posting the Ten
10 Commandments; and
11 Whereas, S520 and HR1070 are
bills that would allow the display of the
12 Ten Commandments in public
places in America.
The operative language
13 provides: "…[t]he
Supreme Court shall not have jurisdiction to review, by
14 appeal, writ of certiorari,
or otherwise, any matter to the extent that
15 relief is sought against an
entity of Federal, State, or local government, or
16 against an officer or agent
of Federal, State, or local government (whether
17 or not acting in official or
personal capacity), concerning that entity's,
18 officer's, or agent's
acknowledgment of God as the sovereign source of law,
19 liberty, or
government"; and
20 Whereas, hearings were held
on the same language in June 2004 in the
21 Constitution, Civil Rights
and Property Rights Subcommittee of the Senate
22 Judiciary Committee.
Hearings were also held on this language in September
23 2004 in the Courts
Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee; and
24 Whereas, former Chief
Justice Rehnquist, in the Texas
case, used the
25 following words to describe
the obvious duplicity of the United
States
26 Supreme Court in telling
local governments in America
that they may not
27 display the Ten Commandments
in local buildings in their communities while at
28 the same time allowing the
Ten Commandments to be present on the building
29 housing the United
States Supreme Court: "Since
1935, Moses has stood,
30 holding two tablets that
reveal portions of the Ten Commandments written in
31 Hebrew, among other
lawgivers in the south frieze. Representations of the
32 Ten Commandments adorn the
metal gates lining the north and south sides of
33 the Courtroom as well as the
doors leading into the Courtroom. Moses also
34 sits on the exterior east
façade of the building holding the Ten Commandments
35 tablets."; and
36 Whereas, the Kentucky
decision will be used by litigants who want to
37 remove God from the public
square in America.
Sooner or later, this effort
38 will take place in our
states. Reports have indicated that efforts to remove
39 the Ten Commandments from
public buildings or public parks are now underway
40 in at least twenty-five
different places in America.
41 Wherefore your memorialist,
the House of Representatives of the State of
42 Arizona,
the Senate concurring, prays:
43 That the United
States Congress adopt S520 and
HR1070, and in so doing,
44 protect the ability of the
people of this state and nation to display the Ten
45 Commandments in public
buildings, to express their faith in public, to retain
H.C.M.
2011
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1 God in the Pledge of
Allegiance and in the national motto, and to use article
2 III, section 2.2, United
States Constitution, to remove these
areas from the
3 jurisdiction of the United
States Supreme Court.
4 Wherefore your memorialist,
the House of Representatives of the State of
5 Arizona,
the Senate concurring, prays:
6 That the Secretary of State
of the State of Arizona
transmit copies of
7 this Memorial to the
President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of
8 the United States House of
Representatives and each Member of Congress from
9 the State of Arizona.
