AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott Monday filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court upholding a Ten Commandments monument on the state Capitol grounds.
Abbott will defend the granite marker during a March 2 hearing in an appeal by the plaintiff in a lawsuit that contends the Texas monument is an unconstitutional establishment of religion.
"The First Amendment was never intended to remove all religious expression from the public square," Abbott argued in the brief filed with the high court.
Abbott said the Ten Commandments are a "sacred religious text," but no one can deny their impact on the history, culture and laws of Texas and the nation.
Abbott said the monument is not an endorsement of religion. He said the Legislature accepted the monument in 1961 from the Fraternal Order of Eagles to commend their work with youth. He said it recognizes commandments' historical significance.
Thomas Van Orden filed the lawsuit in 2002. A federal district judge and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the monument, but Orden appealed to the Supreme Court.
