
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, December 25, 1994                   TAG: 9412270104
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: HOLIDAY 
SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

RULING ON RELIGIOUS SCENES LIKELY

It won't happen in time for Christmas this year, but there seems to be a good chance that the Supreme Court will soon clarify the constitutionality of putting up religious holiday symbols outside government buildings.

For a decade, the court has sent uncertain messages about religious displays - Christian or Jewish, usually - placed on the lawns, steps or walls of official structures or public parks.

The last time the court issued a full-scale decision on the subject, more than five years ago, the outcome was mixed. Two combinations of votes among the justices produced these rulings:

A Christian Nativity scene, including a message praising God for the birth of Jesus, was unconstitutional when erected in a prominent place on a government building, because no nonreligious symbols were included in the display. (The court voted 5-4 on that.)

A Jewish menorah, a symbol of the Hanukkah holiday, was constitutional in a similar place on a government structure. The menorah was next to a Christmas tree, which could be considered a nonreligious symbol. (The vote was 6-3.)

Those outcomes suggested that the court probably would insist that the government not appear to endorse a religious faith, and that the display itself be aimed at promoting more a holiday than a religion.

The court left open the question of what the government could do when it merely tolerated a religious display put up by someone in a space that usually serves as a ``public forum'' - that is, a space open to all comers, for speeches, gatherings and public events.

That question may force the court to choose between the right of free speech for those who would speak about their faith or put up religious displays, and the constitutional rule that government and religion must remain separate.

Lower courts have been issuing widely different rulings on the court's 1989 decisions.

Now, a lower-court ruling from Columbus, Ohio, is being appealed and awaits the justices' attention, probably in January.

A federal appeals court ruled that the state must allow a private group to erect a Christian cross during the Christmas season on the lawn of the State Capitol - a display the state government strenuously opposed.

``Speakers with a religious message,'' the appeals court said, ``are entitled to no less access to public forums than that afforded speakers whose message is ... nonreligious.''

by CNB