Word: pawtucket
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...week before Christmas in 1980, Daniel Donnelly filed suit against his city of Pawtucket, R.I., challenging the constitutionality of Nativity scenes on public property. U.S. District Judge Raymond Pettine declared the display unconstitutional, holding that "government may not assist in the fight to keep Christ in Christmas." The second part of the drama unfolded last November when a federal appeals court upheld Pettine's decision. Finally, with the aid of the U.S. Justice Department, Pawtucket further appealed the findings to the Supreme Court...
...even as Judge Pettine was ruling against Pawtucket, Federal Judge Jack Roberts permitted a Nativity scene in the Texas Capitol Rotunda, arguing that Christmas has emerged as a predominantly secular holiday. Moreover, in a similar lawsuit in Denver, U.S. District Judge David Winder ruled in favor of a creche, saying. "The message conveyed is not an endorsement by the City of Denver of the Christian faith but rather one of the general celebration of the holiday season...
...THEIR ZEAL to stamp out every lingering vestige of America's religious roots, civil libertarians ignore the deeply ingrained cultural traditions that have marked the Christmas season. Hopefully, the Supreme Court will acknowledge such customs and rule in favor of Pawtucket. This is not to say, however, that Nativity scenes should be placed in every municipality. Constitutional permissibility does not imply good public policy...
...membership should consider foregoing a Nativity scene in a publicly funded display. There is certainly no shortage of alternative private sites for creches. The avoidance of a bitter community division must play the guiding principle. This is a lesson the ACLU surely needs to learn: Christmas this year in Pawtucket will miss much of the holiday spirit. The Grinch must be green with envy...
...stringently secularist approach. "If you take the symbol away from the celebration, it's almost a sterile, noncelebrative event," says Lynn Buzzard, executive director of the Christian Legal Society, adding that court attacks on Christmas scenes are "a trivialization of the Constitution." Henry Kinch, the current mayor of Pawtucket, agrees. "The A.C.L.U. wants to wring every bit of religion out of our daily life," he says. He will appeal the anti-crèche decision to the U.S. Supreme Court...