The plaintiff in a Third Circuit case decided yesterday filed the case as Awala, and the People of the Philadelphia Religious Community Center, et al. v. People Who Want to Restrict Our First Amendment Rights, Primarily to Intimidate Rather Than Religious Purposes Maintenance on Courthouse Grounds of Illuminated Granite Monolith On Which “Ten Commandments” Were Inscribed Together With Other Symbols, et al.
Despite this creative styling, “Gbeke Michael Awala, who is currently incarcerated at the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia,” nonetheless lost. Among other things, the court pointed out, “Awala’s pleading in the District Court, which he titled, ‘Motion in opposition towards the defendants habitual offenses involving individual rights restriction against establishment of religion despite fact that religious symbol were admissible,’ is difficult to comprehend, much less classify.” If you want a sense of what Mr. Awala was after, here’s the court’s summary:
A recurring theme in Awala’s pleading is his request that the District Court overturn the United States Supreme Court’s decision in McCreary County, Ky. v. ACLU, which held that two courthouse displays of the Ten Commandments violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Awala seeks, among other things, to have all of the religious monuments which have been removed from courthouses “nationwide” replaced. The District Court clearly does not have the authority to overturn any decision by the United States Supreme Court. . . .
UPDATE: Thanks to commenter Ubertrout for a link to the opinion, which I’ve incorporated above.
Comments are closed.