[Coleus]

Menorah, yes; crèche, no: New York village officials deny resident opportunity to display nativity

ADF and ADF-allied attorneys file suit, request temporary restraining order against Village of Briarcliff Manor

VILLAGE OF BRIARCLIFF MANOR, N.Y. — Acting on behalf of a local resident, Alliance Defense Fund attorneys and allied attorneys are seeking a temporary restraining order against officials in the Village of Briarcliff Manor who refuse to allow a crèche display in a public park.  The attorneys filed their TRO motion today after filing a complaint in federal court Friday against the village’s board of trustees and its manager.

“It is outrageous that a private citizen has been denied the opportunity to celebrate Christmas in a public park,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Brian W. Raum.  “The Village’s decision to purchase, maintain, and display secular seasonal elements and a menorah in the park while prohibiting a privately sponsored nativity scene is not only hypocritical, but unconstitutional.”

The village-sponsored “holiday display” includes a 9-foot-high menorah, bows, garland, and a “Peace on Earth” banner. Henry Ritell, a Catholic and a village resident, first attempted to display a creche in the park in December 2005.  In accordance with his Roman Catholic faith, Ritell requested that the display be permitted between Christmas and Epiphany, which takes place on  Jan. 8, 2006.  In a Jan. 13 letter from the village’s manager, Ritell’s request was denied.

Officials also rejected Ritell’s renewed request in two letters sent to the village on Oct. 30 and Nov. 14, 2006.   The complaint and request for a temporary restraining order filed in Ritell v. The Village of Briarcliff Manor in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York may be viewed at www.telladf.org/userdocs/RitellComplaint.pdf   ADF attorneys are co-counsel in the case along with lead counsel Feerick Lynch MacCartney and allied attorney John Stepanovich.

“Mr. Ritell’s request is entirely constitutional,” Raum explained.  “The Village’s claim that a  ‘public’ park is somehow not a public forum for free expression is unfounded.  More importantly, it is a blatant denial of Mr. Ritell’s First Amendment rights.”   ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.        www.telladf.org                www.saychristmas.org

[yochanan]

but a kwanzaa disply they would allow.

[Suzy Quzy]

Hannukkah is almost OVER for Pete's sake, so no big deal taking it down.

[taxesareforever]

Good for the judge. A menorah and a creche are religious symbols. A Christmas tree is a secular symbol.

[dr_who_2]

Rush is right. This is getting real stupid. Let them have their friggin' menorah.

[antiRepublicrat]

Interesting to see Christians on the other side of this situation. Remember this the next time Jews or pagans want to put up their religious symbols along with a public nativity scene (OTOH, the pagans already have the Christmas tree, so you're kind of on the same side there).

[Clemenza]

You mean there are actually Gentiles in Briarcliff Manor? ;-)

(For those of you in outerwhitelandia, Briarcliff Manor, along with Scarsdale, Chappaqua, and Larchmont, make up the "bagel belt" of Westchester County).

[rmlew]

1. Where are the people who were annoyed with the Rabbi at the SEa-Tac case?
2. A Dreidl or spinning top would be a secular representation of Hanukkah, akin to a Tree. A Menorah is explicitly religious.

[RightOnline]

I'm so sick and tired of pu**ies in postitions of authority............

[Felis_irritable]

Cripes the muzzies must be laughing their butts off. Divide and conquer.

[packrat35]

This is stupid. How does suing get you want you want in this situation. It doesn't. Just pisses off people and they take everything down which makes even more people upset.

[MaDeuce]

Can we jsut please cancel December in its entirety and jump right to New Years Day.

I am so sick of Christmas, Hannukkah, kwansa, ramadan, etc... every December. Every year the pettyness of it all gets worse and worse.

I hate this time of year! Its sucks!!!!!!!!!

[andy58-in-nh]

This creeping insanity has nothing to do with "separation of church and state" - it is about the elevation of petty personal grievances over a sense of community that used to define the uniqueness of America.

As a Jew, I never recall even THINKING about feeling "disincluded" when I saw crèches in public places. Rather, I felt warm and welcoming of my Christian neighbors, and tried to share in the joy they felt for the season which occasioned such displays. I felt then and feel now that free expressions of honest religious faith - especially those given in the spirit of love, peace and charity to all - should be welcome, as many of my neighors greeted the appearance of menorahs in other public locales.

I am disgusted and dismayed at what is happenening to our nation. With tears in my eyes at this moment, to my Christian friends here at FR, I wish you all a Merry Christmas, from the bottom of my heart.

[SuziQ]

So they are obviously NOT being very inclusive, are they?

[durasell]

These people are idiots. I sentence them to a knock upside the head.

[BIGLOOK]

Once upon a time, we used to celebrate the season.......now we litigate the season.

Lawyers without sensibilities should be fair game during the Big Game hunting season in October and November in NY. Thinning the herd benefits all.

[Jim Noble]

If overwhelmingly Jewish communities should be allowed to essentially ban a creche, Christian minority be damned (and I think they should be), then overwhelmingly Christian communities should be allowed to display the creche, everyone else be damned.

That's what Liberty means.

[Texas_Jarhead]

It seems that this year is a pivtoal time for the transformation of the Christmas tree into a "religious symbol".

[Lancey Howard]

New York Village Would Rather Remove 9-Foot Menorah than Allow Nativity Scene

Menorah? Isn't that a "holiday candelabra"?

[Lancey Howard]

against officials in the Village of Briarcliff Manor who refuse to allow a crèche display in a public park

Does a citizen need to get permission from the government in order to take a soap box to a public square and speak? That rumbling you feel at your feet is the rumble caused by the framers of the United States Constitution spinning in their graves.

[ZULU]

If Mr. Ritell wanted to march up and down in the park in support of pronogrpahy on the Internet, that would have been fine and dandy with the effete leftist western-culture hating morons who run that despicable little burg.