WASHINGTON, Oct 12 (AFP) - The Supreme Court announced Tuesday it will decide whether displaying the Ten Commandments on government property violates the US Constitution's separation of church and state.
The high court will hear two cases, one from Kentucky and the other from Texas, and will hand down its decision on an issue that has yielded several contradictory decisions in lower courts.
The court said it will hear the case early next year, but did not set a date.
In the Texas case, the court must decide if the state legislature may display its two-meter (12-foot) monument to the Ten Commandments, which Jews and Christians believe God handed to Moses on Mount Sinai.
The case will also decide whether a lower court was correct to ban a Kentucky's display on the grounds that it violated the First Amendment's prohibition of the establishment of an official religion.
Some 8,000 cases reach the US Supreme Court each year. The justices agree to hear about 80 of them.
Only four of nine judges need vote in favor for a case to be heard. In refusing to hear a case, the high court need not give a reason.