County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union
1989 United States Supreme Court case / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union, 492 U.S. 573 (1989), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court considered the constitutionality of two recurring Christmas and Hanukkah holiday displays located on public property in downtown Pittsburgh. The first, a nativity scene (crèche), was placed on the grand staircase of the Allegheny County Courthouse. The second of the holiday display in question was an 18-foot (5.5 m) public Hanukkah menorah, which was placed just outside the 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.
County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union | |
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Argued February 22, 1989 Decided July 3, 1989 | |
Full case name | County of Allegheny, et al. v. American Civil Liberties Union, Greater Pittsburgh Chapter, et al. |
Citations | 492 U.S. 573 (more) 109 S. Ct. 3086; 106 L. Ed. 2d 472; 1989 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 | |
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Case opinions | |
Majority | Blackmun, joined by Brennan, Marshall, Stevens, O'Connor (Parts III-A, IV, V) |
Plurality | Blackmun, joined by Stevens, O'Connor (Parts I, II); Stevens (Part III-B); O'Connor (Part VII); none (Part VI) |
Concurrence | O'Connor, joined by Brennan, Stevens (Part II) |
Concur/dissent | Stevens, joined by Brennan, Marshall |
Concur/dissent | Brennan, joined by Marshall, Stevens |
Concur/dissent | Kennedy, joined by Rehnquist, White, Scalia |
Laws applied | |
U.S. Const. amend. I |
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.