Lynch v. Donnelly

Infobox SCOTUS case
Litigants=Lynch v. Donnelly
ArgueDate=October 4
ArgueYear=1983
DecideDate=March 5
DecideYear=1984
FullName=Lynch, Mayor of Pawtucket, et al. v. Donnelly, et al.
USVol=465
USPage=668
Citation=
Prior=
Subsequent=
Holding=The city of Pawtucket's nativity scene does not violate the Establishment Clause.
SCOTUS=1981-1986
Majority=Burger
JoinMajority=White, Powell, Rehnquist, O'Connor
Concurrence=O'Connor
JoinConcurrence=
Concurrence2=
JoinConcurrence2=
Concurrence/Dissent=
JoinConcurrence/Dissent=
Dissent=Brennan
JoinDissent=Marshall, Blackmun, Stevens
Dissent2=Blackmun
JoinDissent2=Stevens
LawsApplied=First Amendment

Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668 [cite web|url=http://openjurist.org/465/us/668/lynch-v-donnelly|title=Dennis LYNCH, etc., et al., Petitioners v. Daniel DONNELLY et al. | work = OpenJurist.org|accessdate=2008-06-28] (1984), was a case in the Supreme Court of the United States challenging the legality of holiday decorations on town property.

Background

Pawtucket, Rhode Island's annual Christmas display in the city's shopping district, consisting of a Santa Claus house, a Christmas tree, a banner reading "Seasons Greetings," and a crèche, was challenged in court. The crèche had been a part of the display since at least 1943. [cite web| url=http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=CASE&court=US&vol=465&page=668 |title=Lynch v. Donnelly opinion |accessdate=2007-12-13] The plaintiffs brought the suit to the District Court of Rhode Island, which permanently enjoined the city from displaying the Nativity scene in violation of the Establishment Clause. The Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed the district court's ruling. The city then petitioned to the U.S. Supreme Court for certiorari.

Issue

The issue at hand was whether the inclusion of a crèche in the city's Christmas display violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The plaintiffs alleged that the display violated the Establishment Clause.

Ruling

The Supreme Court reversed previous rulings in a vote of 5-4, ruling that the display was not an effort to advocate a particular religious message and had "legitimate secular purposes."

Chief Justice Burger delivered the opinion of the Court, in which White, Powell, Rehnquist, and O'Connor joined.cite web| url=http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0465_0668_ZO.html |title=Burger opinion |accessdate=2007-12-13] The Court held that the crèche did not violate the Establishment Clause based on the test created in "Lemon v. Kurtzman". They ruled that the crèche is a passive representation of religion and that there was "insufficient evidence to establish that the inclusion of the crèche is a purposeful or surreptitious effort to express some kind of subtle governmental advocacy of a particular religious" view. They also stated that the Constitution "affirmatively mandates accommodation, not merely tolerance of all religions, and forbids hostility toward any."

The Court ruled that the crèche has a legitimate secular purpose within a larger holiday display to celebrate the season and the origins of Christmas which has long been a part of Western culture. The Federal "Government has long recognized—-indeed it has subsidized-—holidays with religious significance." For example, the first Congress that passed the First Amendment enacted legislation providing for paid Chaplains in the House and Senate, and "It has long been the practice that federal employees are released from duties on Thanksgiving and Christmas while being paid." The court compared the crèche to the display of religious paintings in government funded museums. In addition, the crèche requires only minimal expenses for assembly and dismantling. The Court also stated, "no inquiry into potential political divisiveness is even called for" because the situation does not involve direct aid to church-sponsored organizations and because the crèche been displayed for 40 years with no problems.

Concurrence

Justice O’Connor, in her concurring opinion, offered a "clarification" of how the Establishment Clause should be read:

The Establishment Clause prohibits government from making adherence to a religion relevant in any way to a person's standing in the political community. Government can run afoul of that prohibition in two principal ways. One is excessive entanglement with religious institutions ...The second and more direct infringement is government endorsement or disapproval of religion. Endorsement sends a message to nonadherents that they are outsiders, not full members of the political community, and an accompanying message to adherents that they are insiders, favored members of the political community.

This is sometimes referred to as the "Endorsement Test." A law which fails this test is found to be unconstitutional because it "endorses" religion or religious beliefs in such a way that it tells those who agree that they are favored insiders and those who disagree that they are disfavored outsiders. The other side of the coin would be the "disapproval" of religion or religious beliefs in such a way that those who agree with the beliefs are told that they are disfavored outsiders while those who disagree with the beliefs are told that they are favored insiders.

Dissent

Justices Brennan, Marshall, Blackmun, and Stevens dissented. The dissenting opinion argued that the case did not pass the "Lemon" test.cite web| url=http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0465_0668_ZD.html |title=Brennan opinion| accessdate=2007-12-13] cite web| url=http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0465_0668_ZD1.html |title=Blackmun opinion| accessdate=2007-12-13] The secular display surrounding their secular purpose of celebrating of a national holiday could have been done without a clearly secular symbol that supports only one religion to the exclusion of others giving one group public approval of their views. Even if other religious groups are allowed to included “‘competing efforts [by religious groups] to gain or maintain the support of government’ may ‘occasio [n] considerable civil strife’” The religious crèche is also placed in a central location within the display, which makes even less of the Court’s idea that Pawtucket was just including all of the traditional images. The dissenting opinion also mentions that it cannot be compared to a religious display in a museum because it is not solely being considered as a piece of art but as a religious symbol as well. The government recognition of Christmas previously has only been to recognize the secular parts of Christmas, such as spending time with family.

ee also

*List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 465
*"County of Allegheny v. ACLU"
*Endorsement test

External links

* [http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0465_0668_ZS.html Cornell University Law School - Lynch v. Donnelly]
* [http://openjurist.org/465/us United States Supreme Court Opinions from Volume 465]

References