Communities trying to keep Ten Commandments monuments often try to sell the land under the monument to a private entity. They hope that this will allow them to keep the monument in the exact same public place (like a park or courthouse lawn) but without violating the separation of church and state. Of course, courts usually see through this - the lack of any competitive bidding and the obvious purpose of keeping the monument right where it is are usually sufficient reasons to reject such a scheme.

The latest community to try this is Hanover, Pennsylvania. WGAL reports:

Hundreds of Hanover residents have been trying to convince borough leaders to fight the lawsuit and keep the monument in place. ... A petition filed this Friday in York County's Orphan's Court could hold the answer. It asks York County Judge John Snyder to accept a small transfer of land in Wert Park. The borough of Hanover wants to sell a 15-foot-by-15-foot area of land around the monument to a local nonprofit agency. The cost for the land would be $900.

It's possible that the judge will accept this, but that would certainly be appealed and there is a good chance that it would be rejected at a higher level. The goal of such a sale isn't to conform to constitutional restrictions on the government, it's to get around them.

Read More:

• Secularism 101
• Separation of Church and State 101
• Ten Commandments