Group sues to remove Ten Commandments from Connellsville school

CONNELLSVILLE, Pa. — A national group that advocates church-state separation has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to force a Fayette County school district to remove a Ten Commandments monolith from the grounds of its junior high school.

On behalf of an unnamed parent and student, the Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation filed the lawsuit against the Connellsville Area School District on Thursday in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh.

The foundation alleges the 6-foot tall stone monument at Connellsville Junior High School violates the establishment clause of the First Amendment.

They want a judge to order it removed from school property and to prohibit its placement on the grounds of a nearby church.

The group, through Pittsburgh attorney Marcus B. Schneider of Steele Schneider, contends the monument should not be moved to the Connellsville Church of God’s property because it would still be in view of students “who cannot avoid it when playing on athletic fields.”

The parent and student are listed in the lawsuit only as Doe 4 and Doe 5.

Doe 5 is the parent of Doe 4, who according to the lawsuit is a student at the junior high.

This article was written by Channel 11’s news exchange partners at TribLIVE.

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