Con law essay

Introduction The capital of Nebr father a bun in the ovena last nurture mold designed by the School Seal Committee does non injure the establishment clause nor does it violate Leslie Fosters or any wholeness elses right to immunity of Religion granted by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The First Amendment contains the Establishment Clause which states that the giving medication sh both spend a penny no law Respecting an establishment of organized faith. In other words the government sh solely non endorse religion and it shall non give preference to one religion over another(prenominal) but it does not suppress the governments entry into unearthly domain to make accommodations.In this case the way to retard if the governments follow outs have endorsed religion it is essential to halt the Lemon streak, created by the United States and obtained from Lemon v. Kurtzman. The Lemon Test is apply to determine whether or not a display violates th e First Amendment by endorsing religion. The first prong of the Lemon Test articulates that the governments actions must have a unconsecrated aspire. The second prong affirms that the governments action must not have the primary tack together of either advancing or inhibiting religion.Last but not least, the third prong persuadees that the governments action must not esult in an excessive entanglement alongside religion. To determine if the capital of Nebraska towering School castskin is constitutional it must brighten all three parts of the Lemon Test Theretore, since the capital of Nebraska elevated Seal does pass all three parts ot the Lemon Test it is proven that the tender does not violate the establishment clause nor does it violate Leslie Fosters right to Freedom of Religion. Secular Purpose A.Stated Purpose The Lincoln gamey School blockade passed the first prong of the Lemon Test because it has a temporal purpose. Although the mould contains phantasmal image s they ar considered lay because the urpose of them being there is to express the smorgasbord among the students that attend Lincoln High to overall construe the civilize itself. For example, according to Lynch v. Donnelly the cellular inclusion of a nativity movie in a city display did not infringe the Establishment Clause because the stated purpose was sincere and it was not a sham.The nativity scene was placed there to show the citys historical background. In Lincoln High School at the beginning of designing the cast the members of the school cachet committee were instructed to design and create a close that readed Lincoln High and its students. The students had many arguments and disputes on how to incorporate the students because each one of them had various ideas. They did discuss other ways to signify the students but they all hold that the best way to display the motley of the students was by the inclusion of the apparitional symbols.Since the Lincoln High Mu slim Societys office had been vandalized by Christian and Judaic students they suggested to add sacred symbols hoping to demonstrate the tolerance and respect they felt toward the views of all the members of the Lincoln High community. The purpose, like in Lynch, was sincere and it was not a sham because they were actually aiming to represent the three most common religions in the school with the purpose to represent the students diversity not the religions the way that the government in Lynch was trying to represent the citys historical background finished the nativity scene. likewise, In Books v. Elkhart a remembrance inscribed with the ex Commandments stood in front of the city of Elkharts Municipal Building. Forty years after the monuments erecting residents of Elkhart County, filed suit against the city alleging that he monuments presence violated the Establishment Clause. The hook ruled the monument inscribed with the Ten Commandments to be blue because of its location , away the Municipal Building, which houses the local homages and local prosecutors office. This location emphasizes the foundational role of the Ten Commandments in profane, legal matters.The court stated that a carving of Moses holding the Ten Commandments, surrounded by representations of other historical legal elaborates, signals respect not for great proselytizers but for great lawgivers. The court found the monument to be ecular because it was surrounded by other legal givers which minimized the phantasmal purpose the monument of the Ten Commandments displayed to the community According to Books the court should look at the totality location of the circumstances to determine the actual purpose of the display. standardised in Books, you can determine the actual purpose of the Lincoln High postage stamp by looking at the totality of the circumstances. The ghostly symbols in the revenue stamp portray the role religions have amongst the students in the school in a secular way. Since the spectral symbols in the seal are surrounded by other ecular symbols you can infer that the over all purpose is to represent the school not the ghostlike symbols themselves. You can overly determine that its meant to represent the school and its students because of its surroundings similar to how the Ten Commandments in Books represents a figure of a historical law giver not a proselytizer.The unearthly aspect in both cases have been proven to have a secular purpose because of their historical backgrounds and the circumstances in which they are present. B. written Purpose It can also be determined that the Lincoln High School seal is secular by onsidering the brochure that accompanied the seal. In the leaflet the members of the school committee wrote that the Lincoln High School seal is intended to represent the school, its population, Lincoln Center City and the state of Fordham.They wrote this to apologize to the community that would see the seal during its in auguration what the symbols delineate. In Adland v. Russ a monument inscribed with the Ten Commandments located on capitol grounds near Kentuckys patterned clock lacked any secular purpose because it was unaccompanied by any other document. Therefore because of the Ten ommandments distinctly spiritual nature the pre- sublime purpose for the posting of the Ten Commandments is plainly ghostly. According to Adland v.Russ, an effectuateive disavowal can further strengthen the secular purpose of a habitual display. Unlike Adland the Lincoln High School Seal was accompanied with a leaflet that specifically stated the purpose of the symbols that were include in the seal which overall served to support the claim that the seal had a secular purpose. feat 1 . Religious symbols The primary effect of the Lincoln high seal did not promote any religion over another because they utilise the three eligions that were abundant amongst the students.The members of the seal committee did acknowl edge the situation that their were other religions dear by the students who attended the schools and that their were other ways to represent diversity but they chose religion and specifically these three because their was a lot of stress going on between them. They contacted one of the members in the committees father to ask about the religious symbols that corresponded witn the religions. The members dad happened to be a pastor which benefited them to give the information they needed to represent the diversity among he students, not inevitably the religion.The students hoped that by representing all the students as a whole through these religious symbols and the secular symbols the tension would diminish and the vandalizing of the Lincoln High Muslims Societys office would be behind them. The religious symbols that were included in the seal are that Latin Cross, Star of David, and a crescent moon and star. There are religious symbols in the seal but they scarcely take up one t hird of the seal and they dont advance the religion they exhibit the diversity of the students through religion.The secular symbols integrated in the eal is the school name, school mascot, and a interpret of the school. The outline of Fordham and the state flower and bird have been included to represent Lincoln Center City. The description of these symbols is also included in the leaflet accompanying the seal. Two- thirds of the seal is made up of secular symbols while only one third of the seal is made up of religious symbols. The inclusion of these secular symbols minimize the effect that the religious symbols have on the seal simply because their are more secular symbols than religious symbols.In Allegheny v. Aclu a crche donated to the ity by a Roman Catholic group was placed on the staircase of the County Courthouse, the countys seat of government. With a banner it that said Glory to in the highes t. The Court reasoned crche stood alone and contained an unmistakable religious message. Unlike Allegheny the religious symbols in the Lincoln High seal do not stand alone, they are surrounded by other secular symbols which gives off a secular message instead of a religious one.The secular symbols delude the significance of the religious symbols because it shows that not only the religious symbols represent the school and its students. Therefore, all the symbols are of embody importance. Also in Allegheny another display outside another government building included a menorah and Christmas tree. On the other hand that court held that the menorah and Christmas tree had a secular purpose therefore they did not violate the Establishment Clause.The court noted that the display was not constitutional simply because it included twain religions. Rather, it was constitutional because it celebrated the two holidays using what the Court viewed as secular symbols. This made the display, in the Courts view a designation of the wo holidays, rather than an kisser of them . Like in the Lincoln high seal the religious symbols are not secular simply because it includes the three religious symbols, but because it represented the schools students and their diversity like it was stated in the leaflet.The religious symbols in The Lincoln High seal, like in Allegheny are viewed as a recognition of the religions in the school rather than an endorsement ot them. According to Allgneny , cou rts nave never required that displays with religious symbols contain a symbol of every religion to be constitutional. In other words a display that contains a religious symbol doesnt not need to have a symbol on every religion in order to be constitutional and not violate the Establishment Clause. The Lincoln High School seal does not need to have a symbol of every religion in order to be consititutional.It is obvious that their are more religions practiced in the school other than the ones provided in the school but it also call for to be recognized that those three relig ions are the ones that are mostly practiced among the students. The religious symbols dont make the secular symbols religious but the secular ymbols do make the religious symbols secular because it emphasizes what the religious symbols are actually representing which is the students and their diversity in the school. In Friedman v.Bernalillo, The case challenges a county governments use of a seal bearing, among other things, a Latin cross and the Spanish motto, CON ESTA VENCEMOS,. age the cross is the primary symbol of Christianity, the Establishment Clause does not prohibit all references to objects of some religious significance. The district court found that a secular legislative urpose is served by the county seal because it is used to promote the cargo hold of the heritage, history and cultural pride of Bernalillo County.In the Lincoln High School seal the religious symbols in are used to promote the diversity among the students and represent the school. All in all botn cases the displays nave been rul ed to nave a secular effect even though they contained distinctively religious symbols because like in Lincoln High the seals distinctive religious symbols dont endorse religion because of their purpose. 2. Secular Symbols The secular symbols in the Lincoln High School seal diminish the ffect that the religious symbols portray. In Kuhn v.City of gyre Meadow she seal contained a church, which was considered a religious symbols. It surrounding secular symbols was a house, a family and trees. It also had city of Rolling Meadows and State of Illinois around the seal. The seal was considered constitutional because of the overall effect was not to endorse religion. The church was more than Just a religious symbol it was a historical symbol as well because of its historical background. Also the secular symbols surrounding it made it obvious so distinguish the fact that the hurch was included to emphasize the citys heritage and culture.The religious symbols in t he seal werent anymore prominent than the secular symbols which reveal that they are all of equal importance. Like in The Lincoln High School seal the three religious symbols also dont endorse religion because its surrounding symbols are secular which veer the religious meaning that the religious symbols have and make all the seals of equal importance. Like in Kuhn the religious symbols in the Lincoln High seal are not more prominent than the secular symbols in the seal and they dont ave anything special to them that distinguish their importance from the other seal.With the inclusion of the secular symbols the religious symbols in the Lincoln High seal do not have an overall effect of endorsing religion. Rather, its overall effect is to represent the diversity in the school. In FFRF v. City of Wyoming the seal contains a house a play course, a house, a building and a chapel. In this case it was also determined that the seal is constitutional because of its secular symbols. The go lf course, building, and house all represent the City of Wyoming, Michigan.