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Momument Illegal

By Associated Press

Denver, CO – DENVER (AP) A federal appeals court in Denver ruled today that a Ten Commandments monument outside the Haskell County, Oklahoma, courthouse endorses religion.

A three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the monument has the primary effect of endorsing religion when taken in context with the Stigler, where it sits.

The panel sent the case back to U.S. District Judge Ronald A. White so he could issue a new ruling consistent with their ruling. White in 2006 rejected arguments that the monument promotes Christianity at the expense of other religions.

County Commissioner Mitch Worsham says officials are considering an appeal.

The privately funded stone monument was erected in 2004.

The panel also noted that one of the commissioners said at the installation ceremony that quote, "That's what we're trying to live by, that right there.... The good Lord died for me...."

The Oklahoma Legislature approved placing a 3-by-6-foot monument of the Ten Commandments on the state Capitol grounds.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.