Word: pawtucket
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...same decision, they concluded that a Catholic-sponsored creche depicting the Nativity in the county courthouse one block away was not. The tenuous principle governing the decision seemed to be the so-called reindeer rule, suggested in 1984 by the court's decision that a government-owned creche in Pawtucket, R.I., was constitutional because it was flanked by such secular paraphernalia as Santa's house and reindeer and therefore would not be seen as an endorsement of a religious faith. Apparently, the Pittsburgh creche did not have enough secular camouflage...
...Pittsburgh dispute invites the high bench to revisit one of its most controversial and opaque rulings. In a 1984 case from Pawtucket, R.I., the Justices upheld the constitutionality of a town-supported creche in a display that included reindeer, Santa's house and candy-striped poles, saying the overall tableau had a "secular purpose" and "effect." Ever since, lower courts have struggled to apply what has come to be ridiculed as the "reindeer rule." At issue: how much secular camouflage is required to sneak a publicly sponsored Nativity scene past the First Amendment bar on an "establishment of religion...
...chief legal precedent governing religious displays on public property comes from a 1984 Supreme Court case, Lynch v. Donnelly, which ruled that the city of Pawtucket, R.I. could retain a holiday display containing Christmas symbols because it included sufficient room for secular expression...
That court found that the Allegheny County decorations, on a public building were different from the Pawtucket nativity scene, on a publicly owned field. It ruled that the position of the decorations, especially the menorah, implied public "establishment" of specific religions...
After being called up from Pawtucket of the International League late last April, Burks set a Boston rookie record by hitting 20 homers and stealing 27 bases...