Sen. Russell Pearce of Mesa has proposed legislation that could bring the battle over the separation of church and state to Arizona's door.

Pearce has introduced a bill that would require a copy of the Ten Commandments to be placed on the front entrance of the original 1898 state Capitol building by Jan. 1, 2011.

Rep. Judy Burges, R-Skull Valley, Steve Court, R-Mesa, and Carl Seel, R-Phoenix, have also signed onto the bill. The bill has been referred to the Senate Government Institutions Committee. No hearing has been set.

The issue of displaying the Ten Commandments has been debated numerous times over the past decade. And the battle isn't likely to end anytime soon.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that Ten Commandments displays on government property must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Since then, displays in several states have had to be removed while others have been allowed to stay.

The Oklahoma Legislature last year authorized a privately funded Ten Commandments monument on the grounds of Oklahoma's Capitol. Last week, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a Kentucky county can display the Ten Commandments as part of a group of historical documents.

Chandler criminal-defense attorney Marc J. Victor, an advocate of the separation of church and state, was furious to hear about the bill.

"I think it's shameful that a state legislator would even pose such a thing in this day and age," he said. "I wish they would spend less time working on things that don't fix any problems at all and more time studying and fixing the things that really are problems."

Seel said the legislation is not a political stance.

"Clearly the foundation of our nation is a Judeo-Christian ethic," he said. "Even our great Supreme Court references the Ten Commandments in the structure of the building."

He thinks the bill will get enough support to become law.

"It is the foundation of our nation. I don't see how someone can argue against that," he said.