ADL Protests Jesus Statue Displayed on Capitol Steps

A Jewish group’s letter protesting the display of a statue of Jesus on the steps of the U.S. Capitol building could trigger a review of that practice, a government lawyer said.

In the April 27 letter to George White, architect of the Capitol, the Anti-Defamation League objected to the “unambiguous sectarian religious message” conveyed by the placement of the statue.

John Caulfield, general counsel to the Capitol Police Board, which sets policy on displays, said he was unaware of any organization having protested religious displays. But he said such a protest could lead to a review of the board’s policy on displays.

Caulfield said the three-member board, whose members are White and the House and Senate sergeant-at-arms, has tried to “maintain the content neutrality” of its displays.

The Easter-week display consisted of a life-size figure of Jesus surrounded by a collection of flowerpots in the shape of a cross.

Located near the visitors entrance to the building, the scene “gives the impression to visitors from abroad that Christianity is the officially preferred religion of the United States government,” Jess Hordes, ADL’s Washington representative, wrote.

This display and other similar ones have been sponsored by Rita Warren of Fairfax County, Va. She told The Washington Times in 1989, “We the people own this building just as the tourists have a right to come here.”

The Times said that each weekday “from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. she’s out there with her display — a statue of Jesus Christ and tablets of the Ten Commandments — playing religious or patriotic music and talking to visitors.”

Michael Lieberman, ADL’s Washington counsel, said that under a 1987 Supreme Court ruling, County of Allegheny vs. American Civil Liberties Union, such displays are unconstitutional unless accompanied by another display that neutralizes its impact, such as symbols of another religion.