Oklahoma Supreme Court Case Study

Last Saturday afternoon, the biggest coming together of Satanists in history occurred in the city of Detroit. They came together to see the opening of the controversial statue of Satan. The statue of Satan has been a topic of controversy since 2012 when the state of Oklahoma placed a statue of the Ten Commandments on the grounds of the State Capital. Many viewed this as a violation of separation of state and religion. The fact that politicians invested their own money in the statue only boosted disagreement. In response, the Satanic Temple urged the Oklahoma government to allow them to place a statue of Satan on legislative property. The state of Oklahoma refused the proposal, and three years later the famous or infamous, depending on your …show more content…
The government could easily remove all religious displays and ban religion from playing a role in modern day business, education, and life, but that could be viewed as a violation of our first amendment rights. The first amendment grants us the freedom of religion. Does that mean that we, the people, have the right to be as religious as we desire or that we as a society can only be religious in our homes and place of worship? If a decision were to be made then, it would be made by the Supreme Court as they are the only branch of government that can interrupt the constitution. The only other possible branch that could impact religious freedom would be the legislative branch. To do so they would have to decide to change the first amendment, and then three-fourths of states would have to ratify said change. The likelihood of that ever occurring is very slim so let’s focus on the judicial branch instead. In order for the United States Supreme Court to make a decision about religious freedom, they would first have to receive a case where the meaning of religious freedom is question or something must occur in the government that forces the Supreme Court to take action. Could the Satan statue be enough for the Supreme Court to attempt to interrupt the meaning of the …show more content…
Various political decisions such as abortion and gay marriage, are influenced by religious beliefs. There are various interest groups that would advocate for religious displays to be permitted as long as it is their own religion or religions that they deem proper. Groups such as Catholic Families USA and Christian Coalition of American could be major interest groups that rally for religious freedom to allow their own religions to be displayed. These interest groups, however, would be impacted instead of making an impact because the Supreme Court is not influenced by interest groups as heavily as the other two branches. While the Supreme Court tends to follow the popular belief of most Americans on the issues, they are not seeking reelection and, as a result, would not attempt to please certain