MANSFIELD, OH- Today, the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio filed a motion in the U.S. District Court of Northern Ohio with Judge Kathleen O’Malley requesting Judge James DeWeese provide evidence why he should not be held in contempt of court. In June 2002, Judge O’Malley agreed with the ACLU of Ohio that Judge DeWeese could not display the Ten Commandments in his courtroom. Her decision was upheld by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court declined review. However, as recently as May 15, 2008, witnesses described seeing the Ten Commandments prominently exhibited in the court.

ACLU of Ohio Cooperating Attorney Mike Honohan said, “Judge DeWeese’s actions directly fly in the face of the Court’s ruling. This judgment has been in effect for almost six years, yet Judge DeWeese is still not abiding by it.”

"The fact that a judge is knowingly undermining the ruling of another court is especially troubling. The public expects a judge to have the upmost respect for the law, and Judge DeWeese is clearly not demonstrating that with his actions," added Honohan.

In July 2000, Richland County Common Pleas Judge James DeWeese designed and hung a poster bearing the Ten Commandments in his Mansfield courtroom.

According to testimony in the case decided in 2002, he did so in part to symbolize the supremacy of divine law over human affairs, and to provide civic groups with what he considered an example of moral absolutes.

The ACLU filed suit on behalf of its members in March 2001, asserting that the display of so obviously religious a text in a public building violated the Constitution. On June 11, 2002, Judge O’Malley agreed with the ACLU of Ohio and ordered Judge DeWeese to remove the display.

Judge DeWeese’s current display also includes some texts on humanism posted alongside the Ten Commandments.

Honohan concluded, “Posting secular texts is a transparent attempt to distract from Judge DeWeese’s original intention to promote religious ideology. As a steward of the Courts, he should immediately comply with Judge O’Malley’s order and remove the poster from his courtroom.”