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

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

case in which the Court considered the constitutionality of two recurring

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

and

Hanukkah or English translation: 'Establishing' or 'Dedication' (of the Temple in Jerusalem) , nickname = , observedby = Jews , begins = 25 Kislev , ends = 2 Tevet or 3 Tevet , celebrations = Lighting candles each nig ...

holiday displays located on public property in downtown

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. The first, a

nativity scene In the Christian tradition, a nativity scene (also known as a manger scene, crib, crèche ( or ), or in Italian ''presepio'' or ''presepe'', or Bethlehem) is the special exhibition, particularly during the Christmas season, of art objects rep ...

(crèche), was placed on the grand staircase of the

Allegheny County Courthouse The Allegheny County Courthouse in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is part of a complex (along with the old Allegheny County Jail) designed by H. H. Richardson. The buildings are considered among the finest examples of the Romanesque Reviv ...

. The second of the holiday display in question was an public Hanukkah menorah, which was placed just outside the City-County Building next to the city's decorated

Christmas tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, or an artificial tree of similar appearance, associated with the celebration of Christmas. The custom was further developed in early modern ...

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 In United States law, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, together with that Amendment's Free Exercise Clause, form the constitutional right of freedom of religion. The relevant constitutional text ...

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

Holy Name Society The Society of the Holy Name, formally known as the Confraternity of the Most Holy Name of God and Jesus, is a Roman Catholic confraternity of the laity and is one of several which are under the care of the Dominican Order. It is open to all ...

of Pittsburgh had placed a crèche on the grand staircase of the

. In 1986, the county also placed poinsettia plants and two Christmas trees around the crèche. Attached to the manger was an angel carrying a banner, with the words: Gloria in Excelsis Deo! The

Pittsburgh City-County Building The Pittsburgh City-County Building is the seat of government for the City of Pittsburgh, and houses both Pittsburgh and Allegheny County offices. It is located in Downtown Pittsburgh at 414 Grant Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Built from 19 ...

(serving as City Hall) is separate from the courthouse, and is jointly owned by the city and county. The city had placed a 45-foot Christmas tree in front of the building "for a number of years." In 1986, the city placed a plaque beneath the tree with the mayor's name, entitled "Salute to Liberty." Below the title, the sign stated: "During this holiday season, the city of Pittsburgh salutes liberty. Let these festive lights remind us that we are the keepers of the flame of liberty and our legacy of freedom." Since 1982, the city had also placed a menorah with the Christmas tree in front of the City-County Building. The city did not own the menorah, but placed, removed, and stored it each year. The menorah was owned by

Chabad House A Chabad house is a centre for disseminating traditional Judaism by the Chabad movement. Chabad houses are run by a Chabad Shaliach (emissary), and Shalucha (fem. for emissary) and their family. They are located in cities and on or near college ...

, Pittsburgh's

Lubavitch Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic groups ...

Center. On December 10, 1986, the Greater Pittsburgh Chapter of the

ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". ...

and seven local residents sued the city of Pittsburgh and the county of Allegheny. The lawsuit, argued by Roslyn Litman, 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

, applicable via the Fourteenth Amendment. 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 The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts for the following districts: * District of Delaware * District of New Jersey * Eas ...

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 In law, ''certiorari'' is a court process to seek judicial review of a decision of a lower court or government agency. ''Certiorari'' comes from the name of an English prerogative writ, issued by a superior court to direct that the record of ...

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 O'Connor explained the slightly different reasons why she also supports Justice Blackmun's holding. Justice Brennan, joined by Justices Stevens and

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

, 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 Anthony McLeod Kennedy (born July 23, 1936) is an American lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1988 until his retirem ...

, joined by

Chief Justice Rehnquist William Hubbs Rehnquist ( ; October 1, 1924 – September 3, 2005) was an American attorney and jurist who served on the U.S. Supreme Court for 33 years, first as an associate justice from 1972 to 1986 and then as the 16th chief justice from 1 ...

and Justices White and

Scalia Antonin Gregory Scalia (; March 11, 1936 – February 13, 2016) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1986 until his death in 2016. He was described as the intellectua ...

, 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. 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. The following table breaks down the Justices' opinions:

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." 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. Justice O'Connor joined in Justice Blackmun's belief.

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." Justice Brennan questions why the city recognizes a "relatively minor Jewish holiday," while not the "far more significant Jewish holidays of

Rosh Hashanah Rosh HaShanah ( he, רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה, , literally "head of the year") is the Jewish New Year. The biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (, , lit. "day of shouting/blasting") It is the first of the Jewish High Holy Days (, , ...

and

Yom Kippur Yom Kippur (; he, יוֹם כִּפּוּר, , , ) is the holiest day in Judaism and Samaritanism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, the first month of the Hebrew calendar. Primarily centered on atonement and repentance, the day' ...

Part IV

Justice Blackmun found that the crèche endorsed a "patently Christian message," and permanently enjoined its display in the context presented. 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.

Part V

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

Marsh v. Chambers ''Marsh v. Chambers'', 463 U.S. 783 (1983), was a landmark court case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that government funding for chaplains was constitutional because of the "unique history" of the United States.. Three days b ...

'' (1983), Justice Kennedy argued that the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...

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.

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.

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. The cases were remanded to the appeals court for further proceedings in light of this decision.

References

External links

* * {{Pittsburgh United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Rehnquist Court Establishment Clause case law Hanukkah 1989 in United States case law 1989 in religion American Civil Liberties Union litigation History of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Christmas in Pennsylvania