County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union: How the Bench Stole Christmas
![handle is hein.journals/newlr25 and id is 537 raw text is: COMMENT
County of Allegheny v. American Civil
Liberties Union: How the Bench
Stole Christmas
I. INTRODUCTION
Since 1984, when the United States Supreme Court decided the
case of Lynch v. Donnelly,' confusion has reigned among both lower
courts2 and legal scholarss regarding the constitutionality of munici-
pally-sponsored nativity displays, or creches. The Court was seemingly
clear in Lynch, placing emphasis on the context of the Christmas sea-
son4 when reviewing such nativity displays as possible violations of the
1. 465 U.S. 668 (1984). The Lynch Court held that inclusion of a creche in a
city-sponsored Christmas display did not violate the establishment clause since the
creche was appropriate in light of the context of the Christmas season. Id. at
679.
2. See, e.g., ACLU v. City of Birmingham, 791 F.2d 1561 (6th Cir.), cert. denied,
479 U.S. 939 (1986) (A creche standing alone on the lawn of city hall during the
Christmas season violated the establishment clause since the absence of
surrounding secular Christmas symbols conveyed a message of endorsement of
Christianity.); American Jewish Congress v. City of Chicago, 827 F.2d 120 (7th Cir.
1987) (The creche's location inside of a government building distinguished it from
Lynch's facts and created a message of endorsement of religion in violation of the
establishment clause.); ACLU v. Wilkinson, 701 F. Supp. 1296 (E.D. Ky. 1988) (A
lifesize biblical style stable without religious figurines did not violate the
establishment clause since the stable was representative of the historical origins of
Christmas.).
3. See, e.g., Comment, Of Crosses and Creches: The Establishment Clause and Publicly
Sponsored Displays of Religious Symbols, 35 AM. U.L. REV. 479, 515-16 (1986) (Seeing
Lynch as a decision diluting the Lemon three-part test and causing further confusion
in subsequent lower court decisions regarding display of religious symbols, the
author argues for a return to strict application of the Lemon test, finding that judicial
approval of religious displays on public property represent[s] a weakening of the
establishment clause.); Judges, Keeping the Faith?: The Lower Courts' Dubious
Interpretation of Lynch v. Donnelly and Stare Decisis, 24 LAND & WATER L. REV. 167, 168
(1989) (finding Lynch to be wrongly decided and disturbing to those who value
freedom and the integrity of civil government, but also concluding that
subsequent lower court cases interpreting Lynch in terms of physical context were
also wrongly decided since they violated the Lynch holding and the rule of stare
decisis).
4. Lynch, 465 U.S. at 679.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/newlr25&div=25&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union: How the Bench Stole Christmas
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