Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita is asking a federal judge to allow a monument featuring the Ten Commandments, the Bill of Rights and the Preamble to the Indiana Constitution on the Statehouse lawn.
A court blocked its installation in 2000, relying on a 1971 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
Rokita argues later Supreme Court decisions have changed how courts review religious displays on public property.
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is helping represent the state.
The monument is currently in Bedford.