City, Group in Clash On Commandments

An evangelical Christian group unveiled an 850-pound granite sculpture of the Ten Commandments yesterday at its Capitol Hill rowhouse a stone's throw from the Supreme Court, despite a threat of $300-a-day fines.

Faith and Action, which is headed by the owner of the house, the Rev. Robert Schenck, lacks the permits needed to erect the monument, said Lars Etzkorn, associate director of the D.C. Department of Transportation, the agency that oversees public displays in the city.

The group must file for a permit or remove the marker within 30 days or it will face the fines as well as possible seizure of the Second Street NE property, according to a letter from the transportation department that was hand-delivered to the group Friday.

Patrick J. Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition, which is assisting Faith and Action, said the group would not apply for a permit or remove the monument.

Mahoney pointed to other sculptures in the neighborhood -- such as elephants and what appeared to be a giant cat -- and questioned whether any of those property owners had to get permits. The group said it counted 58 garden displays within four blocks of the building, he said.

"We are being singled out because of the religious nature of our display," he said. "We will not be bullied . . . by the city of Washington, D.C."

Faith and Action, which works to bring Christianity into public policy debate, first sought to display the monument in 2001, when Schenck applied for a permit. Schenck said the District never explained why a permit was not granted.

Schenck said the stone had been kept in the house's back yard since then. Faith and Action received the sculpture from Adams County for the Ten Commandments, an Ohio group that lost a court case to display the commandments at public schools.

"We're willing to play the fool once, not twice," Schenck said. "We do not need a permit."

The front areas of homes in Capital Hill and other older District neighborhoods are considered public space under laws that date to the founding of the city, Etzkorn said.

To determine what is appropriate for public space, Etzkorn said Friday, "we use a public interest balancing test. . . . We're not interested in micromanaging."

Schenck said he did not understand why the transportation department was involved. "We're not aware of anyone who travels across the garden, with the exception of squirrels," he said.