County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union

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County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union
U.S. LEXIS
3468
Holding
Display of the menorah in this setting was constitutional, while the Christian nativity scene in this particular setting was unconstitutional.
Court membership
Chief Justice
William Rehnquist
Associate Justices
William J. Brennan Jr. · Byron White
Thurgood Marshall · Harry Blackmun
John P. Stevens · Sandra Day O'Connor
Antonin Scalia · Anthony Kennedy
Case opinions
MajorityBlackmun, joined by Brennan, Marshall, Stevens, O'Connor (Parts III-A, IV, V)
PluralityBlackmun, joined by Stevens, O'Connor (Parts I, II); Stevens (Part III-B); O'Connor (Part VII); none (Part VI)
ConcurrenceO'Connor, joined by Brennan, Stevens (Part II)
Concur/dissentStevens, joined by Brennan, Marshall
Concur/dissentBrennan, joined by Marshall, Stevens
Concur/dissentKennedy, joined by Rehnquist, White, Scalia
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. I

County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union, 492 U.S. 573 (1989), was a

City-County Building next to the city's 45-foot (14 m) decorated Christmas tree
and a sign saluting liberty. The legality of the Christmas tree display was not considered in this case.

In a complex and fragmented decision, the majority held that the County of Allegheny violated the

Establishment Clause by displaying a crèche in the county courthouse, because the "principal or primary effect" of the display was to advance religion within the meaning of Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971), when viewed in its overall context. Moreover, in contrast to Lynch v. Donnelly
(1984), nothing in the crèche's setting detracted from that message.

A different majority held that the menorah display did not have the prohibited effect of endorsing religion, given its "particular physical setting". Its combined display with a Christmas tree and a sign saluting liberty did not impermissibly endorse both the Christian and Jewish faiths, but simply recognized that both Christmas and Hanukkah are part of the same winter-holiday season, which, the Court found, had attained a secular status in U.S. society.

Background

Since 1981, the

Gloria in Excelsis Deo
!

The

Lubavitch
Center.

On December 10, 1986, the Greater Pittsburgh Chapter of the ACLU and seven local residents sued the city of Pittsburgh and the county of Allegheny. The lawsuit, argued by Roslyn Litman,[2] sought to enjoin the county from displaying the crèche in the courthouse, and the city from displaying the menorah in front of the city-county building. Chabad was allowed to intervene to defend the menorah. The plaintiffs argued that the displays violated the Establishment Clause, applicable via the Fourteenth Amendment.[1] On May 8, 1987, the District Court denied the injunction to remove either the crèche or the menorah. The Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reversed the district court's ruling, stating that the two displays each violated the Establishment Clause. The county, city, and Chabad all subsequently filed petitions for certiorari.

Opinion of the Court

The majority holding of the Court found that the crèche display violated the Establishment Clause while the menorah did not. In her opinion,

Justice Brennan, joined by Justices Stevens and Marshall, joined parts III-A, IV, and V of Blackmun's opinion. However, Brennan disagreed with Blackmun and O'Connor's respective opinions by stating that the menorah and Christmas tree are also violations of the Establishment Clause. Justice Kennedy, joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices White and Scalia, disagreed with Blackmun's reasoning in part VI and agreed with the previous judgment of the district court. Justice Stevens, in his own opinion, stated that the appeals court was correct in its ruling.[4] He believed that the menorah display, together with the Christmas tree, signified a double violation of the establishment clause. Since the menorah is a religious symbol, he felt that Judaism and Christianity were being endorsed by the government to the exclusion of all other religions.[4]

The following table breaks down the Justices' opinions:

Justice Nativity scene Menorah
Blackmun violation constitutional
O'Connor violation constitutional
Brennan violation violation
Stevens violation violation
Marshall violation violation
Kennedy constitutional constitutional
White constitutional constitutional
Scalia constitutional constitutional
Rehnquist constitutional constitutional

Part I

Justices Blackmun and O'Connor both believed that the Christmas tree is a secular symbol in American society today. However, Justice O'Connor states that the "menorah standing alone may well send a message of endorsement of the Jewish faith."[5] By placing the menorah with the Christmas tree, she believed that the city is representing the pluralism of the freedom of religion.

Part II

Justice Blackmun believed that the menorah has become a secular symbol, emblematic of the "winter-holiday season." Justice Brennan disagreed with this, stating that the menorah retains religious meaning.[5] Justice O'Connor joined in Justice Blackmun's belief.[3]

Part III

In part III-A, Justice Blackmun discussed the Establishment Clause. In III-B, Justice Blackmun sets the issue of the case as deciding if the crèche and menorah have "the total effect of endorsing or disapproving religious beliefs." Justice Brennan dissented from the opinions of Justices O'Connor and Blackmun, which had proposed that the presence of multiple religious displays, so long as one is not favored over the other. Justices Blackmun and Brennan also argue that Hanukkah's social prominence in America may be due to the proximity to Christmas. Justice Blackmun stated that December is not the "winter holiday season" for Judaism, and believes that the presentation of the menorah with the Christmas tree promotes a "Christianized version of Judaism."[5] Justice Brennan questions why the city recognizes a "relatively minor Jewish holiday," while not the "far more significant Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur."[5]

Part IV

Justice Blackmun found that the crèche endorsed a "patently Christian message," and permanently enjoined its display in the context presented.[1] In his dissenting opinion, Justice Kennedy believed that the crèche does not fail the second prong of the Lemon test, and its display is therefore constitutional. He also concurred that the display of the menorah is constitutional.[6]

Part V

Throughout Part V, Justice Blackmun attacked the reasoning of Justice Kennedy. Citing

Constitution allows the display of the crèche. Justice Blackmun disagreed with Justice Kennedy's logic, arguing that Justice Kennedy advocates a lower level of scrutiny when evaluating the Establishment Clause.[1]

Part VI

Justice Blackmun found that the menorah display did not endorse religion in violation of the Establishment Clause. However, the Court remanded the decision to the appeals court to decide whether the menorah failed the Lemon test on the "entanglement" and "purpose" prongs, which were not considered in this case.[1]

Part VII

Justice Blackmun sums up the opinion, stating that the display of the crèche in the courthouse is unconstitutional. He also states that the display of the menorah in this "particular physical setting" is constitutional.[1] The cases were remanded to the appeals court for further proceedings in light of this decision.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Blackmun opinion". Retrieved December 11, 2007.
  2. New York Times
    .
  3. ^ a b "O'Connor opinion". Retrieved December 11, 2007.
  4. ^ a b "Stevens opinion". Retrieved December 11, 2007.
  5. ^ a b c d "Brennan opinion". Retrieved December 11, 2007.
  6. ^ "Kennedy opinion". Retrieved December 11, 2007.

External links

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