A New York State Supreme Court justice ruled this week-end that there was no violation of the constitutional injunction on separation of church and state in the erection of a creche on school property in Ossining, N, Y He denied a motion for a temporary injunction against building of the creche brought by ten Ossining citizens including members of the three major faiths. Work on the creche was begun by students of the Ossining Junior-Senior High School immediately after the judge’s ruling.
A motion for a permanent injunction is still to be heard. The plaintiffs, since joined by Jewish and Ethical Culture groups and the Civil Liberties Union, plan to take the matter to the United States Supreme Court, if necessary, to get a definitive ruling. Their attorney is Leo Pfeffer of the American Jewish Congress and a resident of Ossining.
In denying the plea, Justice Frank H. Coyne declared that the constitutional prohibition relating to separation of church and state “does not imply an impregnable wall or cleavage completely disassociating one from the other. While it is necessary that there be a separation of church and state, it is not necessary that the state should be stripped of all religious sentiment. “
Speaking for the defendants was Arthur F. Gaynor of the Ossining Board of Education which had granted permission to a 15-member local citizens group to erect the nativity scene on the school lawn. He charged that the opposition to the creche was the fault of “a professional attitude that has been introduced.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
