American Jewish organizations are getting involved on both sides of the first case to come before the U.S. Supreme Court that examines the display of a Jewish religious symbol on public property.
The high court will probably hear oral arguments in the case during the spring session, according to Samuel Rabinove, legal director of the American Jewish Committee.
Arguments in the case almost certainly will be heard before the court recesses for the summer, he told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
The plaintiffs in the original case, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith, are asking the Supreme Court to affirm a U.S. Court of Appeals decision barring public displays of a Christmas nativity scene and a Chanukah menorah on government property in Pittsburgh during the holiday season.
Friend-of-the-court briefs in support of the plaintiffs have been filed jointly by the American Jewish Committee and the National Council of Churches, as well as by the American Jewish Congress on behalf of the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council and itself.
The Supreme Court in recent years has dealt with complaints against the display of a nativity scene or creche on public property, but never a menorah or other Jewish religious symbol.
The menorah in question belongs to the Chabad-Lubavitch organization, a Hasidic movement. The creche is the property of the Holy Name Society, a Roman Catholic organization.
Both are seeking to overturn the lower court ruling.
Nathan Lewin, a Washington attorney, is representing Chabad. Lewin is a vice president of the National Jewish Commission on Law and Public Affairs, widely known as COLPA.
SUIT BROUGTH BY MOSLEM
COLPA informed JTA it, too, has filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of several national Orthodox Jewish organizations in support of the Chabad position.
The ADL, co-counsel with the ACLU in the case of ACLU v. County of Allegheny (Pa.), represents Malik Tunador, a Moslem.
He testified that as an Allegheny County taxpayer, he felt excluded by the erection of a menorah on the steps of the Pittsburgh City-County Building and the annual placement of a creche in the Allegheny County Courthouse.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia ruled last March 15 that the establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment prohibits the display of religious symbols in or near buildings that house government offices.
The Supreme Court agreed four months ago to hear the case.
Donald Mintz, chairman of ADL’s Civil Rights Committee, pointed out that “religious symbols at these locations communicate the message that the represented faiths are endorsed or approved by the state.”
He said the message violates the establishment clause “because it diminishes the political stature of those who do not adhere to the represented religion.”
Rabinove said the “constitutional principle of separation of religion and government means the government should not become involved with religions unless there is a religious need that cannot otherwise be met,” such as chaplains for the armed forces.
“There is no religious need to place sacred symbols of any faith in government buildings,” he stressed.
But Rabinove recalled that in two previous cases, the Supreme Court decided against plaintiffs and upheld the display of a creche on public property.
One, in 1984, involved a creche in Pawtucket, R.I., that was city property. The court was influenced by the fact that it was part of a larger Christmas display that contained holiday artifacts which carried no religious message.
The other case, the display of a creche on public park land in Scarsdale, N.Y., was decided in 1985 on freedom of speech grounds.
In the present case, Chabad argued that government has a responsibility to counterbalance “the overwhelming Christian message delivered by municipal displays that feature Christmas trees.”
But the AJCongress brief rejects this reasoning, saying that the Christmas tree is a secular rather than a religious symbol and therefore not bound by the strict rules placed on religious arrays.
The brief also argues that by highlighting the symbols of the Christian and Jewish faiths, “other religious groups without a December holiday would be discriminated against.”
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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.
