Evening star., 1961-05-31
Sunday CIosinq Laws

We happen to believe that the
Supreme Courts decisions upholding the
validity under the Constitution Of GER
tain Sunday closing laws-and almost
all the States have them on the
books-better serve the public interest
than had they been the other way.
But now that the Supreme Court
has found such laws are not in conflict
with the First Amendments guarantee
Of religious freedom one might hope
that the States would begin cleaning
SiStencieS and contradictions (of which
the Virginia law is a good example)
which are present in most Of them.
Chief Justice Warren, writing the
majority opinion, readily grants that
original Sunday observance laws were
influenced by religious considerations.
But secular, rather than religious con-
siderations, have now become controlling
and will continue to shape their future
application. If it is possible to choose
a hundred words or so to sum up the
many thousands used by the court to
reach this conclusion, this passage from
Chief Justice Warren'S opinion in the
Maryland case might serve the purpose:
=. The present purpose and effect Of most
OF them 1.-THE Sunday closing lawsl is to pro-
vide a uniform day Of rest for all citizens;
the fact that this day is Sunday, q day Of
particular significance for the dominant
Christian sects, does not bar the State from
achieving It's secular goals. To say that the
States cannot prescribe Sunday as day Of
rest for these purposes solely because CEN
tlrieS ago such laws had their genesis in
religion would give q constitutional inter-
pretation Of hostility to the public welfare
rather than one Of mere separation Of church
and State.
:. In an interesting historical refer
eTIce, the Chief Justice cites the fact
that in the same year that James
Madison was able to obtain passage
Of "a Bill for Establishing Religious
Freedom" in Virginia, forerunner of
the First Amendment, he also presented
to the Virginia legislators "a Bill for
Furnishing :. Sabbath BreakerS"-in-
dicating that Mr.. Madison, at least,
found no conflict between his jealous
efforts in behalf of religious freedom
and Sunday closing laws. This same
thought was applied in past years when
the Supreme Court recalled that those
who originally advocated amendment
Of the Constitution to guarantee that
"all men have an equal, natural and
inalienable right to the free exercise Of
religion, according to the dictates of
conscience" were in favor of the death
penalty in convictions for bigamy. Yet
bigamy was an original tenet of the
Mormon religion.
= We think the Supreme Court was
wise in It's decisions. Yet nowhere do
the opinions supporting those decisions
find very clear and convincing answer
to the point made by Justice Douglas
In dissent. That point, as expressed by
Justice Douglas, Is that ''The issue in
these cases would be in better focus If
we imagined that State legislature,
controlled by orthodox Jews and Seventh
Day Adventists, passed law making it
a crime to keep a shop open on Sat-
urdayS. Would Baptist, Catholic,
Methodist, or Presbyterian be compelled
to obey that law or go to jail or pay
afine?"
:. The answer of the court, however,
seems to be that some people are hit
harder than others by Sunday closing
laws and there's nothing 1t can do
about that.