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Page Number: 47.0

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SHURTLEFF v. BOSTON 

 GORSUCH, J., concurring
GORSUCH, J., concurring in judgment 

other entities.  See Espinoza v. Montana Dept. of Revenue, 
591 U. S. ___, ___–___ (2020) (slip op., at 18–22); Trinity Lu-
theran  Church  of  Columbia,  Inc.  v.  Comer,  582  U. S.  ___, 
___–___  (2017)  (slip  op.,  at  14–15);  Zelman  v.  Simmons-
Harris, 536 U. S. 639, 662–663 (2002).  The thread running
through  these  cases  derives  directly  from  the  historical 
hallmarks  of  an  establishment  of  religion—government 
control over religion offends the Constitution, but treating
a  church  on  par  with  secular  entities  and  other  churches
does not.  See Establishment and Disestablishment 2205– 
2208. 

These historical hallmarks also help explain the result in
today’s  case  and  provide  helpful  guidance  for  those  faced 
with future disputes like it.  As a close look at these hall-
marks and our history reveals, “[n]o one at the time of the 
founding  is  recorded  as  arguing  that  the  use  of  religious 
symbols in public contexts was a form of religious establish-
ment.”  Symbol Cases 107.  For most of its existence, this 
country  had  an  “unbroken  history  of  official  acknowledg-
ment by all three branches of government of the role of re-
ligion in American life.”  Lynch, 465 U. S., at 674.11  In fact 
and  as  we  have  seen,  it  appears  that,  until  Lemon,  this 
Court  had  never  held  the  display  of  a  religious  symbol  to 

—————— 

11 So, for example, when designing a seal for the new Nation in 1776, 
Benjamin  Franklin  and  Thomas  Jefferson  proposed  a  familiar  Biblical 
scene—Moses leading the Israelites across the Red Sea.  J. Hutson, Re-
ligion and the Founding of the American Republic 50–51 (1998) (Hutson). 
The  seal  ultimately  adopted  by  Congress  in  1782  features  “the  Eye  of 
Providence” surrounded by “glory” above the motto Annuit Coeptis—“He
[God] has favored our undertakings.”  Dept. of State, Bureau of Pub. Af-
fairs, The Great Seal of the United States 4–6 (July 2003).  This Court 
has  recognized  that  President  Washington’s  1789  Thanksgiving  Day
Proclamation referred to “a day of public thanksgiving and prayer” and 
the role of a “Supreme Being” in “the foundations and successes of our 
young Nation.”  Van Orden, 545 U. S., at 686–687.  And President Jef-
ferson allowed various religious groups to use the Capitol for weekly wor-
ship services.  Hutson 84–94.