The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that a Ten Commandments monument placed on State Capitol grounds must be removed because it violates the state's constitution.
Oklahoma's highest court said the Ten Commandments chiseled into the 6-foot-tall granite monument, which was privately funded by a Republican legislator, are "obviously religious in nature and are an integral part of the Jewish and Christian faiths," according to FOX News.
In a 7-2 decision, the court said the placement of the monument violated a section in the state's constitution, which says no public money or property can be used either directly or indirectly for the "benefit, or support of any sect, church, denomination, or system of religion."
Defenders of the statue have argued that the commandments were placed on the capitol grounds as "historical context," given the influence the Ten Commandments had on the formation of American law. They also argued that it was similar to a Ten Commandments statue in Texas whose legality was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court; according to The Washington Post.
Using that argument as a basis, reports Reuters, other groups such as the Satanists and the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster to apply for permission to erect their own monuments on Capitol grounds citing what they say are historical events.
This ruling overturns a decision made in March when a U.S. judge dismissed a case filed by an atheist group that sought to remove the monument from State Capitol grounds.
