Yuk yuk. The Supreme Court?
Posted on 05/13/2005 10:48:34 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
RICHMOND, Va. – The inscription "In God We Trust" on the facade of a government building in North Carolina does not violate the U.S. Constitution's guidelines on the separation of church and state, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.
A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld a lower judge's dismissal of a lawsuit challenging the slogan written on the Davidson County Government Center in Lexington, N.C.
The inscription, in 18-inch block letters, was paid for with donations from individuals and churches in 2002. Lawyers Charles F. Lambeth Jr. and Michael D. Lea, who regularly practice in the center, filed a lawsuit a few months later, claiming the display violated the First Amendment and seeking its removal.
U.S. District Judge William L. Osteen ruled in May 2004 that the display "will not produce an excessive entanglement of church and state."
The appeals court agreed, noting that "In God We Trust" has appeared on the nation's coins since 1865 and was made the national motto by Congress in 1956. The motto also is inscribed above the speaker's chair in the U.S. House of Representatives and above the main door of the U.S. Senate chamber.
"In this situation, the reasonable observer must be deemed aware of the patriotic uses, both historical and present, of the phrase 'In God We Trust,'" Judge Robert King wrote. The court said the inscription would be unconstitutional if it served a religious purpose.
Lea said he was disappointed but was not sure whether he would appeal the ruling.
"The 4th Circuit got it exactly right," said James Redfern Morgan Jr., a Winston-Salem attorney who defended the county's governing board.
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule in the coming weeks whether Ten Commandments displays on government property violate the Constitution's ban on "establishment" of religion. Last year the high court dismissed on technical grounds a case in which an appeals court ruled that the words "under God" in Pledge of Allegiance were unconstitutional.
–
On the Net:
www.ca4.uscourts.gov
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
Wow! Sanity!
That stuff might be contagious.
I'm sure the DUmmies are in an uproar over this.
I'm no attorney but I would file this in the "NO DUH!" file.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
It's a shame that we need a court to tell us this.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
They'd have to tear down almost every building and monument in Washington to get rid of Christianity. Even the the judges at the SC have Moses and the 10 Commandments hanging on the wall above their heads!
Christian military Chaplin's can use the word "God" but they can't use the name "Jesus Christ" in the Navy - even though Christianity is based on Jesus Christ. 60 Chaplin's are petitioning our government on the 1st amendment. The military claims those of other faiths might be "offended".
I'm waiting for them to go after the Arlington National Cemetery. It's nothing but crosses.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
So how much are these two lawyers going to have to pony-up for losing the case?
/sarcasm
What would they want the crosses replaced with? Dolphin statues? That, of course, would be considered politically correct.
Yuk yuk. The Supreme Court?
For now we can claim this small victory.
My son just graduated from Navy bootcamp in March and several days ago we received his bootcamp yearbook. In it is a picture of a sailor and, behind him is a large figure of Christ helping him steer the ship through a storm. Beautiful!
Below it is the Navy Hymn.
PING
"In God We Trust" are very powerful words. No wonder the 'Rats and others fear it. I think in the future if we ever move completely away from real money, it should be stamped on every item that is used to pay for purchases. :)
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