The Casper City Council's idea of trying to sell the portion of City Park on which a Ten Commandments monument sits is not a new one. It's been done before, been challenged in court, and ruled unconstitutional by at least one federal judge.

In July 2002, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the same Wisconsin-based group that has asked the city of Casper to take down its Ten Commandments monument, filed a lawsuit against the city of La Crosse, Wis., demanding the city remove a Decalogue from a city park.

In order to keep the Ten Commandments monument in the park, the city of La Crosse sold the land upon which the monument sat on to the Fraternal Order of the Eagles, the organization that donated both the La Crosse monument and Casper's monument.

La Crosse Mayor John Medinger on Thursday said he had opposed selling the portion of the city property to the Eagles. He wanted the monument out of the park, he said. But the La Crosse City Council voted 15-2 to sell the portion of property.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, along with 22 other plaintiffs, challenged the sale, and in July, Federal District Judge Barbara Crabb ruled in the foundation's favor.

However, Crabb recently vacated her decision due to a legal technicality, Medinger said. Crabb is now rehearing the case and has indicated she will again rule in favor of the foundation, he added.

" Plaintiffs argue that the presence of the monument, both before and after its sale to the Eagles, is a violation of the establishment cause," Crabb wrote in her original decision. "Defendant disagrees, arguing that whatever constitutional infirmities existed with respect to the monument initially have been cured because the monument is now owned by the Eagles and the city has disclaimed any endorsement of religious expression.

"I agree with plaintiffs. The law of this circuit compels a conclusion that defendant violated the establishment clause when it displayed a monument of the Ten Commandments on public property without a secular purpose for doing so. Furthermore, defendant's sale of a minuscule portion of the park to the Eagles in order to preserve the presence of the monument proves rather than extinguishes defendant's endorsement of the monument's religious message."

Annie Laurie Gaylor of the Freedom From Religion Foundation believes that if the city of Casper sells off a piece of park to keep the Ten Commandments, the action would be just as illegal as the actions taken by La Crosse, she said.

"This is not sensible," Gaylor said, upon learning of the City Council's plan. "This shows that the city is willing to sell off valuable public property in order to maintain a set of Bible directives. It is still sending a message of endorsement. And this is what a federal court ruled against here in Wisconsin in our La Crosse case."

Besides being illegal, selling a piece of park to save a Ten Commandments monument is also immoral, Gaylor said.

"This does not make any sense unless the city of Casper really wants to endorse the Ten Commandments," she said. "What it means is that basically nothing changes. It means you have the monument where it has always been."

"And the message it sends is: The city is doing everything it can to keep that religious message right where it has always been. And it is even willing to sell off prime real estate" to keep it there, she added.

"What if the Freedom From Religion Foundation came to town and offered an atheistic monument to the city?" Gaylor asked. "And they put it up … and then we were invited to buy this land and keep the monument where it was in a city park or by a city building? What if the Muslims did this with a sign saying, 'There is only one true God and his name is Allah and Mohammed is His prophet'? Everyone would see that this is a sham. Because it is the majority religion, then people don't see how unjust it is."

Medinger said the La Crosse City Council has indicated if Crabb again rules in favor of the foundation, the city will appeal the ruling.

Selling the chunk of City Park on which Casper's Decalogue sits is further complicated by the legal status of the park itself, according to Casper City Manager Tom Forslund.

The park was donated to the city in the early 20th century by Gov. Joseph Carey, and modifications to the park have been fought by the Carey estate in the past, Forslund said.

The city will contact the Carey estate to see what might happen if the city attempts to sell the piece of park on which the Ten Commandments monument sits, the council decided Tuesday.