A lawyer in California is suing the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals because its seal includes what seems to be a representation of the Ten Commandments. According to Ryan Donlon, promoting the Commandments in this way is unconstitutional.

The Monterey Herald reports:

Cathy Catterson, the court's clerk, said the seal highlights a woman, known as ''the Majesty of the Law'' who is reading a large book. At her feet is a tablet with 10 unreadable lines on it, what Donlon believes is the Ten Commandments. Catterson said the tablet has ''the same shape'' of the Ten Commandments but ''you can't read the text of it.''

I doubt that Donlon will be successful. First, the representation is more abstract than concrete. Second, the seal contains more than one abstraction about the "law" and the history of the law. If the Ten Commandments were alone and in a "concrete" way (identified as such and/or included readable text), Donlon would have a strong case. The presence of multiple abstractions alongside the absence of any clear declaration of what is being shown, though, renders the case very weak.

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