Bloomfield New Mexico

ACLU investigating Bloomfield monument

The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico filed a public records request with the city of Bloomfield on Wednesday, requesting any records alluding to the city's planned monument. They will be searching all relevant documents that date back to the city government's first discussions of the monument.

The documents likely will date back to 2007, when the city initially approved the monument. That same year, ACLU-NM spoke with the city attorney and advised the city against the monument.

They thought the discussion was over when no news of the monument ever

reached ACLU-NM.

But the group was surprised last week to hear the council renewed its interest in the monument by acknowledging its placement at a council meeting on June 13. The group received several emails about the monument shortly after.

"Honestly, we thought the issue had gone away," said ACLU-NM executive director Peter Simonson. "It's highly disappointing."

The group may not pursue litigation, but it likely will take action if the monument goes up, Simonson said.

It is the first ACLU-NM investigation of a Ten Commandments monument in the past 10 years, if not ever, Simonson said.

City manager David Fuqua and mayor Scott Eckstein did not return phone calls to comment on the investigation Wednesday.

The ACLU, known for intercepting issues of constitutional rights through litigation, seeks to determine whether the city of Bloomfield chose to erect the monument for a religious purpose. The monument may violate the United States Constitution's First Amendment, which prohibits the government from establishing or endorsing religious beliefs.

"The basic point is that when religion and government combine, both of them suffer," said Simonson. "Religious freedom thrives when the government stays out of religion and does not endorse one faith over another."

The matter would be a moot point were it not for the monument's placement on government property, Simonson said.

Federal courts have repeatedly affirmed the First Amendment's prohibition on the government promoting one religion over another, or even showing a preference between religion and non-religion.

ACLU-NM Investigates Constitutionality of Bloomfield Ten ...

Today, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico ( ACLU-NM ) filed an Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA) request with the City of Bloomfield, NM, requesting records regarding the city’s planned Ten Commandments monument. The monument, soon to be installed in front of the city hall, may violate the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits the government from establishing or endorsing religious beliefs. The ACLU-NM says it is seeking through this IPRA request to determine whether the City of Bloomfield chose to erect this monument for a religious purpose.

“Religious freedom thrives when the government stays out of religion and does not endorse one faith over another,” said ACLU-NM Executive Director Peter Simonson in a statement released today. “Matters of religious belief should be left to individuals, families and faith communities, not to governments or political majorities.”

Federal courts have repeatedly affirmed that the First Amendment prohibits the government from promoting one religion over another, or even showing preference between religion and non-religion. In many cases, monuments on public property featuring the Ten Commandments have been ruled as unconstitutional, the ACLU-NM explained.

As recently as 2009, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered Haskell County, Oklahoma to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the county courthouse grounds, saying that a “reasonable observer” would conclude that the monument was an endorsement of religion. The county’s defense of the monument cost local taxpayers $200,000 in legal fees, according to the ACLU-NM.

“Which version of the Ten Commandments will the City of Bloomfield choose to endorse?” questioned ACLU-NM Staff Attorney Leon Howard. “Catholic? Protestant? Hebraic? The versions are all different. The City can’t erect the monument without snubbing one religious faith or another.

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