Chapter 2: The Ruegemer Fable
[Working Draft, Nov. 1, 2009]

    The judge in this story is none other than Judge E. J. Ruegemer, born July 29, 1902. A member of the St. Cloud, Minnesota Aerie 622 for 70 years, he was inducted into the Eagles' Hall of Fame in 1992, and was named the Eagles' “Citizen of the Year” in 2001. Judge Ruegemer passed away at age of 102 on January 12, 2005 – five months before the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Orden v. Perry.

    Judge Ruegemer served on the bench for 26 years – the Stearns County Juvenile Court between 1941 and 1946, and the State of Minnesota District Court between 1947 and 1967. In his private life, he was chief justice and chairman of the Eagle's Youth Guidance Committee and he founded the Big Brother's program in St. Cloud, Minnesota. In his later years, he lived in an assisted living facility in Alexandria, Minnesota.

    The following account is given by Judge Ruegemer in an affidavit for the case of Freedom From Religion Foundation v. State of Colorado as read into the record by the Honorable Warren O. Martin, District Judge, District Court, City and County of Denver, Colorado. [1]

I was born July 29, 1902. I currently reside in Alexandria, Minnesota. With respect to the above-captioned matter [ ], because of my age [ ], I do not wish to travel to Denver, Colorado, or to participate in any formal legal proceedings, other than to prepare this affidavit for possible use in the above-captioned matter.

I'm retired from the Stearns County Juvenile Court bench, where I served as a judge from 1941 to 1947, and the State of Minnesota District Court bench from 1947 to 1967. In my private live, as one way to participate in civil affairs, I was chief justice and chairman of the Youth Guidance Committee of the Fraternal Order of Eagles.

In my work as a juvenile court judge, I came in frequent contact with youngsters who were in trouble with the law. It seemed to me that many of them were without any code of conduct or standards by which to govern their actions. About the year 1943, it occurred to me that they should -- could benefit from exposure to one mankind's earliest codes of conduct - the Ten Commandments. This was not to be a religious instruction of any kind, but to show these youngsters that there were such recognized codes of behavior to guide and help them. I developed the idea of posting a copy of the Ten Commandments in each juvenile courtroom in the State of Minnesota and later in juvenile courtrooms throughout the country.

Such a program would require funding. I presented this idea to the Fraternal Order of Eagles, seeking their support. Initially, the idea was rejected by the Eagles because it was felt that it might seem coercive or sectarian. Eventually, however, representatives from the Jewish, Protestant and Roman Catholic communities joined together and developed a version of the Ten Commandments which was not identified with any one religious group. And on this basis, the Eagles agreed to support such a youth guidance program.

While the program was being developed, I received a telephone call from motion picture producer Cecil B. DeMille, who was making a film called 'The Ten Commandments.' He told me that he thought the program was a wonderful idea and suggested that rather than paper copies, the Ten Commandments be put on bronze plaques for distribution throughout the country. I said that since the original Ten Commandments were on granite that this would be an even more suitable material. He agreed, and I worked with two local Minnesota granite companies to produce granite monuments inscribed with the Ten Commandments. Local aeries of Eagles throughout the country paid for monuments which they presented to their communities.

Ceremonies were held in connection with the presentation of most of the monuments and some were attended by the film actors who appeared in the Cecil B. DeMille movie, by city, county and state officials, the Boy Scouts of America and other civic organizations. Charleton Heston, who played Moses in the film, appeared at one ceremony, and Martha Scott, who played the mother of Moses, appeared at another.

    Judge Ruegemer passed away in January 2005 at the age of 102.

   In Chapter 5, I will examine whether this affidavit of Judge Ruegemer in Freedom From Religion Foundation v. Colorado, as well as his affidavits in Books v. City of Elkhart [2] and Card v. City of Everett, [3] is artful lawyering or perjury.

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Endnotes:

1. Reporter’s Transcript, December 11, 1991, pages 10-12.
2. Judge Ruegemer’s affidavit in Books v. City of Elkhart, Indiana (1998).
3. Judge Ruegemer’s declaration in Card v. City of Everett, Washington (2003).