A ruling by the Illinois Supreme Court holding unconstitutional a law banning automobile sales on Sunday was hailed today by the Greater Chicago Council of the American Jewish Congress as “a victory for religious liberty and separation of church and state.”
Elmer Gertz, president of the Council, noted that the American Jewish Congress had opposed passage of the measure by the 1961 Illinois legislature and had called on Governor Kerner to veto it. He said that while the court had invalidated the law because it discriminated against the Sunday sale of automobiles while permitting other items to be sold on that day, “the American Jewish Congress opposed the measure on other grounds as well–namely, that such a law unfairly penalizes Orthodox Jews and other Sabbatarians who, because of their religious beliefs, must close their businesses on a day other than Sunday.”
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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.
