The U.S. Supreme Court ruling Monday on displaying the Ten Commandments on public property might have been what state Sen. Mike Fair needed to get his measure off dead center.

It has been languishing in the Senate Judiciary Committee since April and won’t be taken up until next year.

“The court decision today won’t hurt” in getting it moving, said Fair, R-Greenville, chief architect of the Senate bill to allow the display of the Ten Commandments on government property.

The high court held that displays of the Ten Commandments on government property are not inherently unconstitutional. But each exhibit demands scrutiny to determine whether it amounts to a governmental promotion of religion.

Fair said his legislation meets the high court’s test.

His legislation would allow the words to be displayed “along with other documents of historical significance that have formed and influenced the United States’ legal or governmental system.”

The House adopted the measure by an overwhelming margin this year. It would allow any state entity — from schools to the state Supreme Court and the National Guard — to display the Ten Commandments.

The House bill was written based on a 1989 Supreme Court ruling that said such displays would be constitutional because they include secular images in a way that doesn’t endorse religion.

The attorney for South Carolina’s chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union said Monday’s high court ruling backs their contention the Ten Commandments should not be displayed alone.

“We’re very happy about it because we think the Ten Commandments are inherently religious,” Denyse Williams said.

Williams said she hopes the ruling will not encourage activists to test the court’s decision unless displays are generic and clearly for historic purposes.

“If the purpose is religious, it’s not going to have a chance of staying there,” Williams said, adding that the text of the commandments are particularly difficult to present as not being religious.

Fair is not without his concerns.

As a Christian, Fair said he is not sure the Legislature would be doing a service to the nation’s Judeo-Christian traditions by putting the Ten Commandments on the same level with other historical documents.

“I clearly believe that the commandments are superior ... They have no equal,” he argued.

Fair said he has received every assurance his measure will be at the top of the committee agenda next year.

“I don’t know if it will pass, but I think it will,” he said.

Staff writer Clif LeBlanc contributed to this report. Reach Bandy at (803) 771-8648 or lbandy@thestate.com.