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Lynch
v. Donnelly
465
U.S. 668 (1984)
The
Rothgerber Johnson & Lyons Religious Institutions
Group gratefully acknowledges the contribution of the
Ethics and Public Policy Center which provided the following case commentary taken from Terry Eastland, Religious
Liberty in the Supreme Court: The Cases That Define
the Debate over Church and State (1993).
Is
it constitutional for a city to include a Nativity scene
in its annual Christmas display? Yes, said the Supreme Court
in Lynch v. Donnelly. The Court did not justify its
decision on what would have been the broad and, indeed,
precedent-shattering ground that the government may support
religion. Instead, applying the three-part Lemon
test, it found a legitimate secular purpose for the crèche:
"to celebrate," as Chief Justice Warren Burger wrote in
his opinion for the Court, "the Holiday and to depict the
origins of that Holiday." This non-religious view of the
crèche was vigorously disputed by Justices William
Brennan and Harry Blackmun.
The
city of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, erected a Christmas display
as part of its observance of the holiday season. Among the
items in the display, all owned by the city, were a Santa
Claus house, reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh, a Christmas
tree, and a clown, as well as a crèche consisting
of the Infant Jesus, Mary and Joseph, angels, shepherds
and kings, and animals. The display was located in a park
owned by a nonprofit organization. Some residents of the
city who were members of the American Civil Liberties Union,
along with the ACLU itself, challenged the display as an
establishment of religion. The district court agreed, and
the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed.
In a 5—4 decision, the Supreme Court reversed that judgment.
Lynch
produced three opinions in addition to the majority opinion
written by the Chief Justice and expressing the views of
five justices. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor joined the Court's
opinion but also wrote separately. Justice William Brennan,
joined by Justices Thurgood Marshall, Harry Blackmun, and
John Paul Stevens, wrote in dissent; Justice Blackmun also
dissented separately, joined by Justice Stevens. The four
opinions in the case are presented here, followed by an
editorial from the Wall Street Journal.
Five
years after Lynch, in Allegheny County v. ACLU,
Greater Pittsburgh Chapter, 492 U.S. 573, the Court
found unconstitutional the display of a crèche in
a public building; this crèche was not surrounded
by other, more secular holiday decorations. In the same
case the Court also refused to declare unconstitutional
the public display of a menorah; the menorah survived constitutional
challenge because it was flanked by secular symbols.
Participating
in Lynch v. Donnelly, decided March 5, 1984, were
Chief Justice Warren E. Burger and Associate Justices Harry
A. Blackmun, William J. Brennan, Jr., Thurgood Marshall,
Sandra Day O'Connor, Lewis F. Powell, Jr., William H. Rehnquist,
John Paul Stevens, and Byron R. White.
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