The Ten Commandments could be coming to the Michigan Capitol.

On Wednesday, the Capitol Committee in the Legislature voted to allow managers of the Capitol to put together a proposed design that could place the Ten Commandments in the Capitol along with other historical documents, such as the U.S. Constitution, Magna Carta, the Mayflower Compact and part of the Michigan Constitution.

Sen. Thomas George, R-Kalamazoo, who is a member of the committee, said the resolution doesn't list a specific set of documents that could be put in the Capitol.

"Having those documents there would give insight into the development of the state," George said.

The committee was urged to provide for a public display of the commandments in a House of Representatives bill passed in March 2005.

Another resolution adopted in the House on May 31 asked that "historic documents related to our system of governance and the process of lawmaking" be placed in the Capitol.

Jerry Lawler, executive director of the Legislative Council Facilities Agency, said the documents would be placed in the rotunda.

A plan of what to include and whether the documents would be displayed in frames or as statues will be created and would need to be approved by the committee, Lawler said.

But there is opposition to the commandments being placed on government property.

Arlene-Marie, state director of American Atheists, said her organization is opposed to the display of the commandments because they violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment.

"It's absolutely unconstitutional because the government is endorsing a specific religion," Marie said.

The presence of other documents doesn't make the display acceptable because it "doesn't alter the fact that the commandments are an endorsement of a religion," Marie said.

Rana Elmir, communications director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, said the organization is investigating the issue and will have a "watchful eye" over the committee and the process of picking documents to display.

"We hope the Capitol Committee isn't going to choose one religion over another," she said.

The issue is whether the Ten Commandments can be displayed on government property or whether it violates the establishment clause of the First Amendment.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the issue in 2005 in two separate cases, deciding that displaying the commandments on government property is not always unconstitutional, but how they are displayed and whether they are a government endorsement of religion or not determines whether a display is legal or not.

The presence of other historical documents around the display is also a factor.

Frank S. Ravitch, professor in the MSU College of Law, who has testified at hearings in the state Legislature about displaying commandments, said whether the proposed display in the Capitol is legal or not will depend on several factors.

"On its face, there's nothing wrong with the bill," Ravitch said.

But because previous bills dealing with the issue specifically called for a display of the Ten Commandments and other factors, it could be found illegal, Ravitch said.

Michigan's debate over the Ten Commandments is one many states have had.

Alabama had its own after state Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore was removed from his post after refusing to get rid of a statue of the commandments from the state's judicial building in November 2003

Ben Dupre, an attorney for Foundation for Moral law, Inc., said placing the commandments in the judicial building honored God, who is the source of citizens' rights.

He also said the organization believes the Ten Commandments shouldn't have to be surrounded by other documents.

"The Ten Commandments can stand on its own, and it's perfectly constitutional to do so," Dupre said. "It shouldn't have to be buried under these other documents."

Rebecca McNulty can be reached at mcnult13@msu.edu.